Despite the global recession, which has impacted practically every sector of the economy, Luka Koper d.d. can be relatively happy with cargo volumes over the first three months of this year.
Throughput in March amounted to 1,148,214 tonnes, thus the total volume of cargo handled in the first quarter of 2009 totalled 3,712,353 tonnes; this is 1% ahead of the anticipated volume and 9% down on the same period last year. Nonetheless, due to continuing pessimistic predictions of recession, Luka Koper is not in a position to be confident about growth.
As is the situation with ports worldwide, Koper has recorded its largest downturn in the throughput of vehicles. Volume amounted to 62,333 units in the first quarter, which is a 62% decrease on the same period last year. In the context of this it should also be pointed out that the Company managed to acquire new business during this period, and that other Mediterranean ports have recorded even
larger falls than Koper.
larger falls than Koper.
The crisis in the motor vehicle and steel industries has also resulted in the downturn in general cargo throughput, although the average increased as a consequence of growth in timber and fruit, the volumes of which respectively increased by 9 and 7 percent in comparison with the first quarter of 2008. A decrease in throughput has also been recorded with some types of dry bulk cargo.
The performance of the Container Terminal remains excellent. A total of 85,867 TEUs handled is 3% ahead of the same period last year, and 7 percent ahead of expectations.
The relatively good performance can be attributed to the Port of Koper’s geographical position and consequently lower expenses. Indeed, more cargo is now being redirected from other ports to Koper. In addition to this, Koper can also take advantage of its multi-functionality, meaning that a smaller throughput of one type of cargo may be replaced by an increased throughput of another. Further to all of this, the high quality and reliability of services provided by Luka Koper remains one of the major competitive edges of our company.
