Russia's OTEKO halves coal transshipment in 2024 to 12 mln tonnes, expects growth to 40 mln tonnes in 2025
KRASNODAR. Jan 17 (Interfax) - OTEKO Group's Taman Bulk Cargo Terminal in the port of Taman shipped more than 12 million tonnes of coal in 2024, the group's commercial director for bulk business development, Alexander Gaganov, told Interfax.
"In 2024, the OTEKO bulk terminal in the port of Taman shipped more than 12 million tonnes of coal. The top three recipient countries were Turkey, India and China, [which are] rapidly developing countries in the Global South. Among the factors limiting transshipment volumes, given the terminal's design capacity of over 70 million tonnes of dry cargo per year, are the negative dynamics in raw material markets and the decline in global prices compared to the levels of 2022 and 2023," Gaganov said.
Taman accounted for more than 13% of Russia's coal exports in 2023, handling almost 26 million tonnes. The amount has thus fallen by more than half in 2024.
The dynamics of shipments in Q4 2024 were positive, with a stable month-on-month increase, he said. "In December, nearly twice as much coal was shipped to the port of Taman compared to November. For the first time in the challenging year of 2024, the terminal surpassed the 2 million tonne mark for railway shipments," he said.
This result was achieved through active work to reform relationships in the logistics industry and find joint solutions to complex issues, he said.
"For 2025, we are observing a positive logistical trend and expect to reach a transshipment level of 40 million tonnes. For our part, we are creating all the needed conditions for this - we carefully listen to the market, maintain constant contact with partners, producers, exporters and consumers of coal, as well as operators of rolling stock, we are actively working to restructure relationships with the main carrier and showing flexibility in our tariff policy," Gaganov said.
The company is already seeing positive dynamics in coal shipments, he said.
"For January, the carrier has agreed to deliver more than 2.5 million tonnes of coal to OTEKO. But that's not the limit. Seasonal factors play a role, but the main thing is that we're seeing a steady demand from developing countries in the Global South. For instance, despite an increase in domestic coal production in India and China, a significant portion of their coal consumption is met through imports. The demand for Russian coal, which is currently one of the best in the world in terms of price-quality ratio, will increase. Another good example is Vietnam. In 2023, Vietnam was ranked ninth among the countries receiving coal from Taman; in 2024, it climbed to sixth place, and shipments to Vietnam are expected to increase in 2025. The advantages of southern Russian ports and the Azov-Black Sea trade route for exports to Global South countries are obvious, so we see upward trends," he said.
In response to a question about the possible revision of coal transshipment tariffs this year, Gaganov said, "We closely monitor the markets and the dynamics of changes, and maintain constant contact with all participants in the complex logistics chain."
"Each month, we receive requests for transshipment of more than 5 million tonnes. The high number of requests from shippers is a sign that our tariff is competitive. Tariffs, as is known, are dictated by market conditions. Changes in tariff policy are possible, but in our work, we adhere to a client-oriented approach and plan joint work, taking into account the current dynamics of the stevedoring business," he said.
As reported, coal transshipment almost stopped at the beginning of 2024 after coal companies refused to ship cargo to the OTEKO terminal in the port of Taman due to high tariffs.
Russian Railways assessed possible losses in transshipment volumes from the suspension of coal shipments to the Taman port in Q2 2024 at 6.5 million tonnes, accounting for 20% of all transportation to southern ports. At that time, OTEKO Group said that the company had reduced coal transshipment tariffs.
In August, the Federal Antimonopoly Service initiated an antitrust case against OTEKO-Portservice LLC, the operator of the Taman Bulk Cargo Terminal. The company's tariffs were deemed economically unjustified.
OTEKO is the largest private investor in port infrastructure in southern Russia, developing stevedoring businesses in several areas - transshipment of bulk cargo, grain, oversized and heavy cargo, as well as petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas. The bulk cargo terminal has a design capacity of 70 million tonnes per year, including 50 million tonnes of coal.
