STA, 11 January 2020 - The port operator Luka Koper generated EUR 206 million in net sales revenue in 2020, which is 8% less than in 2019. Cargo transshipment was down by 14% to 19.5 million tonnes, shows the company's preliminary and unaudited report, published on Monday.
"The reason for revenue dropping at a smaller rate than transshipment is better operations in additional services, filling and emptying of containers and in higher revenue from storage charge in certain segments," the company said.
The operator of Slovenia's sole maritime port in Koper added that it had felt the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but that transshipment of containers as a strategic group of goods had nevertheless remained stable.
Transshipment of general cargo was down by 26% to 954,807 tonnes, of containers by 2% to 9.27 million tonnes, of cars by 10% to 998,201 tonnes, of liquid cargo by 23% to 3.32 million tonnes and of bulk cargo by 25% to 19.52 million tonnes.
A total of 945,007 container units were transshipped in Koper last year, which is 1% less than in 2019, and the number of transshipped cars dropped by 13% to 617,157.
The impact of the pandemic is direct when it comes to liquid cargo, as the sales of petroleum products dropped, in particular in the aviation industry, the company said.
It added that the drop in car production had affected the entire supply chain, and that it showed in transshipment of general cargo, including steel products, and in the terminal for bulk cargo, where raw material for steel industry is transshipped.
A part of the decline in transshipment of bulk cargo is attributed to the general drop in the use of thermal coal as a consequence of the increasing taxes on greenhouse gas emissions.
In car transshipment, a positive trend was recorded in the second half of 2020 on the account of exports of cars to the Far East, which is why the drop was much smaller than in other comparable European ports, Luka Koper said.
