February 11, 2005

Russia's 2004 grain exports via Baltic Ports up

Grain exports through Russia's Baltic Sea ports of St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad increased in 2004, while grain shipments via foreign ports in the area fell, according to the news agency Prime-Tass.

Grain handled by Baltic Sea ports amounted to 1.994 million metric tons in 2004, down 44% on the year.

Russian exporters cut shipments to foreign ports in favor of domestic ports, as rail tariffs to the latter are considerably lower. As a result St. Petersburg became the biggest grain-handling outlet in the region, overtaking the former leader, Estonia's Tallinn.

St. Petersburg handled 694,000 tons of grain in 2004, up 48% on the year.

Kaliningrad handled 239,400 tons, up 12% on the year. The two Russian ports handled over a half of the grain handled by all Baltic Sea ports. The trend is expected to persist in 2005, as Russian authorities are not going to change the policy of favoring domestic ports, analysts said.