North-Western Shipping Company carried 2.5 million tonnes of cargo in HI’18, down 7.5% YoY
In HI’2018, vessels of North-Western Shipping Company (NWSC, a company of UCL Holding) carried 2.5 million tonnes of cargo, which is a 7.5% decrease versus the same period in 2017.
According to the company, new vessels of NWSC – 10 vessels of Project DCV36 (lead ship – “Amethyst”) and 7 vessels of Project RSD49 “Neva-Leader” – carried about 0.72 million tonnes (30% of the total volume).
In the reporting period, NWSC vessels carried 1.0 million tonnes of grain (+51%), 0.4 million tonnes of ferrous metal (-28%), 0.36 million tonnes of chemical and mineral fertilizers (-27%), 0.18 million tonnes of coal (down 3 times), 0.1 million tonnes of non-ferrous metal (+25%), 0.2 million tonnes of timber (up 3 times) and 0.26 million tonnes of other cargoes.
The growth of timber shipments was driven by the increased consumption of this product by wood processing companies in Scandinavia. The surge of grain shipments should be attributed to partial shifting of the fleet to this segment amid favorable market situation and higher yield of 2017. That caused the decrease in other segments of transportation but general impact on the company’s economic performance was positive.
Export cargo (mostly grain, ferrous and non-ferrous metal, coal, chemical and mineral fertilizers) made the bulk of shipments – some 1.6 million tonnes, or 72% of the total volume, and showed a decrease of 10%.
Transportation between foreign ports totaled 0.68 million tonnes (27% of the total volume) and increased by 17%.
Transportation of import cargo making 1.3% of the total volume dropped two times to 0.03 million tonnes amid general decrease of imports to Russia from European countries.
Domestic shipments in the reporting period were little if any.
North-Western Shipping Company, is the largest carrier in the Russian system of waterways, specializing on the export and import shipping of bulk, general and project cargoes, towages of oversized cargo and crafts. The company provides a full range of transport services on the inland waterways of Russia and international sea traffic. The company operates a fleet of 47 river/sea class vessels, 10 sea class vessels and 3 Ro-Ro «river-sea» barges. Total deadweight of the Company's fleet is 288,000 tonnes. About 70% of the fleet was built between 2002 and 2013. Average age of the company’s fleet is 17.5 y.o. The company transports about 5 mln t of cargo per year.
NWSC is part of VBTH, a shipping division of the international transport group UCL Holding that consolidates several Russian shipping, railway, stevedore and logistics companies. The division also comprises Volga Shipping Company, V.F.Tanker and a number of shipbuilding assets.