Freight volume handled at the combined port of HaminaKotka for 5 recent months of this year reached 6,45 million tons, up 7.8% over the total freight turnover of the ports of Hamina and Kotka in January-May of 2010, the Port Authority said. In the reporting period exports flow grew by 2.9%, imports – by 17.8%.
The Port Authority said there was a decline in volumes of supplies through the Nord Stream project, while other goods volume increased. In particular, grain exports rose by 2,5 times. Five-month container traffic increased by 31.5% to 245,932 TEUs.
The two Finnish ports Kotkan Satama Oy and Haminan Satama Oy merged on May 1st, under the new brand name HaminaKotka. The combined port is expected to become the largest export port of the country with projected volumes of 16.5 million tons of cargo.
Kotka is located some 50 kilometers from the Russian Federation border, 280 km off St. Petersburg, 1000 km from Moscow. Port of Kotka comprises ports of Mussalo, Hietanen, Kantasatama, berth Puolanlaituri (Polish berth), berth Halla, and also port premises Sunila. In 2010, the port of Kotka handled about 9,2 million tons.
Port of Hamina is the eastern port of Finland located 35 km from the Russian border. In 2010, cargo throughput of the port totaled 3,6 million tons.
(Source:http://en.portnews.ru)