Baku, Azerbaijan, July 25
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Cargo flows going through Georgia have declined in the last six years, Trend reports with reference to a research by Galt & Taggart, a leading investment banking and investment management services company in Georgia.
According to the report, 0.9 percent reduction in 2018 was solely related to reduction of rail cargo transportation (down 6.6 percent) as transit cargo dropped significantly, while freight volumes transported by road remained stable. Road transportation made up 75.7 percent of total cargo flows in 2018.
Liquid cargo transportation facing increased completion from pipelines continued to fall, down 27.0 percent in 2018. Crude oil transportation decreased by 58.0 percent and made up only 5.4 percent of total liquid cargo transported, as major competitor CPC pipeline gained 10.8 percent in 2018. Oil products transportation also fell 23.8 percent due to reduced transportation volumes from Kazakhstan, the report says.
For the first time in the last four years, dry cargo transported by rail was up 6.5 percent and made up 68.4 percent of total cargo in 2018. However, this was not enough to compensate reduced liquid cargo volumes. Improved economic environment in the region is the likely reason for increased dry cargo transportation volumes. The major dry cargo products were ore and construction freight accounting for 39.6 percent of total dry cargo transportation in 2018.
According to the research, ore products transportation, which made up 23.2 percent of total dry cargo, grew 12.7 percent, due to increased transportation from Russia up 75,000 and 264,000 tons, respectively. Grain and grain products transportation was up 58.3 percent due to increased transportation volumes from Russia.