OREANDA-NEWS. Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port Group (NCSP Group or the Group) (LSE: NCSP, Moscow Exchange: NMTP) announces today that its consolidated cargo turnover for the first half of 2013 amounted to 72.1 million tonnes, compared to 81.6 million tonnes in the same period of 2012.

Liquid cargo

Handling of liquid cargo in 1H 2013 was 61,018 ths tonnes, compared to 66,704 ths tonnes in January-June 2012.

Crude oil handling in the reporting period totalled 47,818 ths tonnes, oil products handling amounted to 12,801 ths tonnes, while seed oil and liquid fertilizers (UAN) volumes were 104 ths tonnes and 296 ths tonnes, respectively.

Group’s total oil products handling in 1H 2013 increased by 40.5% tonnes year-on-year. Oil products volumes at Group’s terminals in Novorossiysk were up by 30.9% or 1,962 ths tonnes year-on-year. Novorossiysk Fuel Oil Terminal volumes standalone grew by 1,522 ths tonnes, or 142.2% year-on-year. Oil products handling at the Primorsk Trade Port were up by 1,725 ths tonnes, or 62.6% year-on-year.

UAN handling during the first six months of 2013 doubled year-on-year.

Bulk cargo

In 1H 2013, NCSP Group handled 3,025 ths tonnes of bulk cargo compared to 6,389 tonnes in 1H 2012. The decrease was primarily due to low grain volumes, which amounted to 478 ths tonnes in 1H 2013, down 3,715 ths tonnes compared to 1H 2012. During the reporting period grain exports were limited by high domestic prices and low grain stocks as a result of the poor crop in 2012.

Iron ore handling remained largely unchanged year-on-year, despite a year-on-year decrease of 8.5% at all Russian sea ports during the first six months of 2013, according to ASOP*. Cement handling for 1H 2013 increased 6.7% year-on-year.

Raw sugar handling in June declined significantly month-on-month after a 50% increase in import duties imposed by Russia and other members of the Customs Union. The higher volumes in previous months were due to sugar producers stockpiling imported raw materials ahead of the introduction of the new import duty.

General cargo

General cargo volumes in 1H 2013 amounted to 5,577 ths tonnes. Ferrous metals volumes were down 5% year-on-year, which is a smaller decline than the 11.6% year-on-year decrease seen at all Russian sea ports during the period, according to ASOP*. Timber handling decreased by 28.8% year-on-year, in line with overall industry trends.

Containers

NCSP Group’s total container throughput in January-June 2013 was 321.3 ths TEU, which is in line with 2012 volumes. Container volumes are under pressure due to macroeconomic factors, including global trade’s slowdown. The decline in container volumes measured in tonnes was due to the material share of empty containers in export container traffic.