OREANDA-NEWS. On 14 July 2009 Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (LSE: NCSP, RTS and MICEX: NMTP) announced consolidated operating results for January-June 2009: in the reporting period the cargo turnover of the NCSP Group totalled 43 273.3 thousand tonnes, which exceeds turnover for the first six months of 2008 by 10.4% or 4 067 thousand tonnes.

Commenting on the operating results of the Group for the first six months of 2009, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of PJSC NCSP, Aleksander Ponomarenko, noted:

"The NCSP Group’s operational results for the first half of the current year can be viewed as positive. The Group’s companies are able to maintain adequate utilization of their handling capacities, including new terminals brought on line in 2007-2008, by increasing handling of grain, oil products, iron ore, crude oil, and a range of other cargos.

In the second half of 2009 our focus must be on strengthening operating figures through consolidation of the cargo flows most in demand on the current market, and providing a better service. Our diversified cargo base and range of universal handling capacities give us every opportunity to do this”.

Grain handling volumes in the first half of 2009 increased more than four times relative to the first six months of 2008, reaching 4 388.9 thousand tonnes. The share of grain in the total cargo turnover of the NCSP Group was 10.1% versus 2.7% in the first half of the previous year. At the end of the previous grain year (July 2008 – June 2009) the new specialized terminal of a Group’s company – PJSC NZT (Novorossiysk Grain Terminal) – handled 5 089.5 thousand tonnes of export grain, which is about 24% of the total volume of grain exported from Russia in the 2008-2009 grain year.

The volumes of oil products handled in the first half of 2009 increased by 1 121.8 thousand tonnes or 20.8% compared with the same period of the previous year, and the share of oil products in the total cargo turnover increased to 15.1% versus 13.8% at the end of the first six months of 2008. Handling of crude oil increased by 696.1 thousand tonnes (by 3.3%), reaching 28 970.7 tonnes.

Handling of ore and iron ore concentrate in the first half of 2009 totalled 1 608.4 thousand tonnes, many times more than the volumes handled in the same period of the previous year.

The volumes of pig iron handled in the first half of the current year reached 112.8 thousand tonnes, more than triple the volumes in the same period of the previous year.

In the reporting period handling of non-ferrous metals increased by 5.1% relative to the first half of 2008. Handling of seed oils, perishable cargos, mineral fertilizers and sugar also increased, by a total of 84.3 thousand tonnes or 5.2%.

Month on month volumes of ferrous metals handled in the second quarter of the current year stabilized at 820 thousand tonnes per month, which is 25% higher than the monthly average volume of this cargo handled in the first quarter of 2009. Nevertheless, at the end of the first half of the current year, the volume of ferrous metals handled was 4 445.7 thousand tonnes, which is 3.9% lower than the result for the same period of the previous year.

In the first half of 2009 the volume of timber cargo handled totalled 789.2 thousand m3 (446.4 thousand tonnes), which is 28.6% (27.6%) lower than the volume for the same period of the previous year. In the second quarter of 2009 the monthly volumes of timber cargo handled stabilized at about 170 thousand m3 (about 100 thousand tonnes).

In the reporting period container traffic at the Group’s three terminals totalled 121.2 thousand TEU, which is 35.7% less than traffic for the first half of 2008 and is a consequence of the global reduction in container traffic. It should be noted that container traffic at the Group’s terminals in June compared with May of the current year increased by 15.6% or 3.1 thousand TEU.

Handling of imported cement, UAN liquid fertilizers, scrap metal and other cargo decreased in total by 950.6 thousand tonnes relative to the first half of 2008.