Fesco, UralChem to consider prospects for cooperation in shipping fertilizer
ST. PETERSBURG. June 7 (Interfax) - Fesco Transportation Group, the flagship company of which is Far Eastern Shipping Company (Fesco) , and UralChem United Chemical Company will study the possibility of cooperation in shipping mineral fertilizer by railway and regular marine shipping lines.
The companies signed a letter of intent at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday.
The agreement is aimed at mutually beneficial cooperation in import and export shipments of mineral fertilizer and industrial chemical products, as well as increasing the level of containerization of finished products at UralChem divisions, Fesco said in a statement.
This primarily concerns shipment of fertilizer, Fesco president Alexander Isurin said. "Because UralChem does not only produce fertilizers, it produces fluoropolymer, buys polyamide. There are various types of cargo that they transport," Isurin told reporters on the sidelines of the forum.
Freight shipments will be multimodal and will be made by Fesco Transportation Group, "because Transgarant's freight cars, some cars are hired, we manage several types of transport, transship through Commercial Port of Vladivostok to ships belonging to Fesco," Isurin said.
"But the initial stage, it's being worked out, is a new route for shipping freight. They need to work out, understand to what extent it is advantageous. It's not just transport logistics here, but also trade relations, in which we do not participate. That is, there was shipment to the border, now it's to the end point. We'll offer the best that there is, they will take a look at how this fits into their trade relations with partners," Isurin said.
"This is foremost containerized freight," he said. "There is the technology of shipping fertilizer in hoppers to the nearest transshipment point, because not all mines have the technology to load into containers. [UralChem Trans] will then load into its hopper, ship to some point where it is possible to transfer to a container and travel on with the container," Isurin said.