Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.2
By Rashid Shirinov – Trend:
Transshipment of cargo at the Aktau port is expected to reach 3.3 million tons in 2018, President of the Aktau Sea Trade Port Abay Turikpenbaev told Interfax-Kazakhstan.
He said the amount is 10 percent more than last year, and most cargoes are filled with grain and construction materials from Iran.
"Last year we started transshipment of mineral fertilizers to Iran. Now we expect a new cargo – urea from Turkmenistan. The range of goods is becoming more diverse. But at the same time it complicates the work of the port — it is necessary to develop new technologies and new schemes of work," he said.
Turikpenbaev also said that two oil berths are now used as auxiliary due to the drop in the volume of oil transshipment.
"Ten years ago the volume of oil transshipment was 12 million tons, but last year it was only 1.5 million," said Turikpenbaev.
Therefore, Aktau port is trying to diversify its business to transport other types of cargo.
"The difficulty lies in the fact that sanctions have been imposed on Iran and many companies stopped shipping their goods there – this applies to metal, which also used to hold large part in the transshipment of the port," Turikpenbaev said, noting that the volume of metal transshipment used to reach about 2 million tons, but this figure will not exceed 200,000 tons this year.
In this regard, the port has identified the development of container transport as its priority activity in the search for new cargoes. The port places great hopes on international transport routes.
"The Association of Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, which is already registered in Astana, has been established, and with the help of this platform we jointly develop products for our customers," the port president said, adding that several test trains have already run the route.
"We hope that next year we will transport almost 75,000-100,000 containers a year," Turikpenbaev said, noting that according to preliminary forecasts, the volume of cargo transshipment in the port will reach 4 million tons next year.
Aktau sea port is located on the Eastern coast of the Caspian Sea at the intersection of several international transport corridors. The port is intended for transportation of dry cargoes, crude oil and oil products in the direction of Iran, Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Moreover, the port connects Baku with Aktau via the regular ferry line.