Despite the shelling, Ukrainian ports are working: where they do it best
18 April 08:49
In the first quarter of 2025, Ukrainian ports handled 23 million tons of cargo. This was reported by the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The ports of Greater Odesa have the largest cargo handling volumes. Since the beginning of the year, they have handled 20.7 million tons of cargo:
– Pivdennyi Port – 10.6 million tons,
– Chornomorsk Port – 6.6 million tons,
– Odesa Port – 3.5 million tons.
The ports of the Danube region – Izmail, Reni and Ust-Dunaisk – together handled more than 2.3 million tons of cargo.
For comparison, in the first quarter of 2024, Ukrainian ports handled 27.8 million tons of cargo, which is 4.8 million tons more than this year.
What is the reason for the decrease in cargo turnover?
According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, the lower figures are due to the reduction of agricultural land and lower export supplies, as well as a decline in production in export-oriented industries such as metallurgy, which exported up to 80% of its products before the war.
Globally, cargo transshipment is also declining due to market volatility and logistics disruptions.
Freight rates in ports have increased
After a long period of stability, freight rates in the Danube and Black Sea ports have increased by $1-2 per ton.
According to Spike brokers, one of the reasons for the increase in transportation costs was the increase in the cost of river routes and longer vessel downtime in certain areas.
In particular, rates for small vessels from Izmail to Italy increased to 28-30 $/t. Freight rates for larger vessels from the Black Sea ports increased to 16-17 USD/t in the direction of Italy and to 17-19 USD/t in the direction of Spain.
Freight rates are expected to remain high due to seasonal demand and geopolitical factors.
Last year was a record year for ports
In 2024, the cargo turnover of Ukrainian ports reached a record high of 97.2 million tons. This is significantly higher than in 2023, which amounted to 62 million tons.
According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, the main growth drivers were grain and ore cargo, which accounted for 60.3 million tons and 18.5 million tons, respectively.
One of the most important achievements was the stable functioning of the Ukrainian Sea Corridor, which in 2024 provided
– total cargo turnover of 79.9 million tons,
– exports of 76.4 million tons to 52 countries.
The route was used by 3,138 vessels.
Danube ports played a key role in supporting exports, transshipping 17.3 million tons of cargo.
