Forwarders slam Russian ports

Russia’s ports are over-priced, offer poor service levels and have insufficient capacity, IFW reports quoting leading forwarders.


Marco Leineweber, Country Manager Russia DHL Freight, said Russia urgently needed to invest in more port facilities to boost capacity. “International ocean freight growth is currently constrained by Russian port capacity and [a lack of] efficiency,” he said.


Perry Neumann of Kuehne + Nagel Russia and Belarus, said handling services at ports were both poor and over-priced.


“Storage and handling charges in Russian ports are very high,” he said. “Infrastructure is often not sufficient for high cargo volumes that are coming by sea freight to Russia.


“St Petersburg is still considered as the main Russian port, but its capacity is very low.”


The Russian economy is forecast to grow at over 4% this year. Trade volumes with Western Europe are among the fastest growing in Europe, but forwarders contacted by IFW said more investment in processes and facilities was required to facilitate increased trade.


Lisa Hemmings, Manager of FS Mackenzie International’s Russian/CIS Department, said out-dated customs procedures at ports were driving up operating costs with regulations varying by location and by cargo.


Stefan Karlen, Area Manager Black & Caspian Sea at Panalpina, said Russian gateways were generally more expensive than ports in most of the rest of Europe both on terminal handling and demurrage charges.


“Service levels at different ports differ from shipping line to shipping line,” he added. “Close, regular monitoring of entry ports is necessary in case unforeseen events such as natural disasters or congestion negatively impact the operation and thus service and timing.”


Hemmings agreed it was important to have staff on the ground at key locations to deal with local difficulties.


“It is paramount to have an office in St Petersburg,” she said. “Through our own office there we are able to work with the port closely and have our staff available to go to the port to resolve any potential problems that may arise.”


Leineweber said the strong drive towards containerisation would slowly improve efficiency, however, and with increased container handling capacity Russia’s key ports at St Petersburg, Vladivostok and Novorossiysk would eventually become more competitive.


Neumann added that Ust-Luga port in the Gulf of Finland, which is current being expanded, would help relieve some of the pressure on St Petersburg in future.
(Source:http://en.portnews.ru)