BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 10
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Despite COVID-19 related economic disruptions, transportation volumes going through Georgia posted positive growth in 2020, Trend reports via the Galt & Taggart investment bank.
A total of 42.9 million tons of cargo was transported through Georgia in 2020 which is 1.4 percent higher compared to 2019 level.
The growth was mostly driven by increased transportation volumes by road, which remains to be the main mode of transportation in Georgia, accounting for 74.1 percent of total cargo in 2020.
Transportation volumes by a continued upward trend in 2020, with a 1.9 percent higher volume of cargo transported by Georgian Railway (GR) in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The positive trend in transportation volumes maintained in 1Q2021. Overall transportation volumes increased by 3.4 percent year on year to 9.2 million tons.
Notably, the growth was entirely driven by increased rail transportation (up 7.1 percent year-on-year to 3 million tons), while cargo volumes transported by road remained mostly flat. GR transported a total of 11.1 million tons of cargo in 2020 up 1.9 percent year-on-year.
Dry cargo drove the growth in 2020, while liquid cargo, which makes up 27.5 percent of total and is made up entirely by oil products (petrol, gasoline, fuel oil, etc.) continued to decline, albeit at a slower pace (-1 percent year-on-year to 3 million tons).
On a positive note, transit flows going through Georgia by rail continued growth in 2020, up 6.6 percent year-on-year to 5.5 million tons, while exported cargo dropped 15.8 percent year-on-year to 1.1 million tons, in line with the overall economic backdrop in Georgia.
Dry cargo, which has been the growth engine for GR for the past 2 years continued growth in 2020. Dry cargo, accounting for 72.5 percent of total cargo transportation in 2020, recorded a 3 percent year-on-year growth in 2020. The rise in dry cargo transportation was mainly driven by chemicals and fertilizers and other product categories (methanol, P-xylene, meat products, mineral waters), while transportation of other dry cargo products declined.
Cargo transported by rail posted positive growth in 1Q2021 up 7.4 percent year-on-year to 3 million tons. Interestingly, the growth was entirely driven by increased liquid cargo transportation as oil products transported from Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan increased in 1Q2021.
Dry cargo transportation declined in 1Q2021, down 7 percent to 1.9 million tons due to declines in almost all product categories (except sugar and construction freight). The decline is partially explained by the high base of 1Q2020 (GR recorded strong performance in the first 2 months of 2020).
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