Ust-Luga – not a competitor to Muugan port

The route of the container train to Kaluga from Muuga port has finally been launched! The first train with parts for Mitsubishi cars left last Friday, after long negotiations with the plant's representatives. Details of the supply of spare parts to Kaluga plant Peugeot-Citroen-Mitsubishi have been discussed for several years, as it became known from the words of Erik Laidewe – Chairman of the Board of Transiidikeskuse AS.

- With what frequency will the train run?

- Before launching this route, we conducted a thorough test of sending by road. The first train, which will depart today (October 12 – approx. V.M.), consists of 37 platforms, each of which is 80 feet long. The weight of each platform is 74 TEU (one TEU corresponds to a container of 20 pounds). By the end of the year we plan to send 1000 TEU, involving 5 container trains. Next year we plan to have 3 trains per week, and the total volume of transported cargo will be 14 thousand TEU per year.

- What share of the company's turnover will this figure be?

- This is approximately 10% of our total container turnover. But if we take into account only the railroad transportation, the increase is approximately 50%. Besides, container trains from Kaluga will transport fasteners: we plan to fill the trains going to Muuga approximately by 15%.

- I can't help raising a burning question about Ust-Luga...

- Yes, discussions about Ust-Luga are not a coincidence. The volume of oil transit has indeed decreased this year, and it is a fact: the figure is 5 million tons of oil which bypassed Estonia. In the container business, however, things are somewhat different, and there are many reasons for that. Our company works with different clients, and most of them are not initially suited to Ust-Luga port because of the volume: cargo lots are not that big for this large port. And finally, at this stage, it is not possible to launch a container terminal there at full capacity. Yes, four cranes have been installed there for more than a year, but they have processed maybe 1,000 TEUs, or even less.

But these are not all the reasons. Ust-Luga is serious competition to St. Petersburg, but loses to it in location. The population of the region is 5 million people and, in fact, Ust-Luga is Russia's second largest industrial city after St. Petersburg, which will always be in the lead. This port is unlikely ever to win this race in the container business. It is more likely to meet the fate of the Ventspils terminal, which has been empty for a dozen years.