With the slowdown in the global economy and the effect of the Russia-Ukraine war, significant losses occurred in all types of transport in Turkish ports, from export to import and from transit to cabotage. While the number of containers handled decreased by 11 percent in September compared to the same period of the previous year, the decrease in transit containers approached 40 percent. Industry officials point out that although there are periods when the rate of increase slows down, there is a decline in container transportation for the first time, excluding pandemic closures. The growth in general cargo and imported liquid cargo, predominantly petroleum products, limited the contraction in the total amount of handling.
According to the September cargo statistics of the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs, the total amount of cargo handled at Turkish ports last month decreased by 3 percent on an annual basis to approximately 45 million tons, while the total export load decreased by 8 percent. In container transportation, which is one of the important indicators in exports to the West, this decline was much more severe. The number of containers handled at the ports in September decreased by 11 percent on an annual basis in September, amounting to approximately 947 thousand TEU, after a decrease of not more than 2 percent in July and August. The biggest loss in container handling was on the transit freight side with a ratio of nearly 40 percent. In the last month, there has been growth in general cargo and liquid cargoes, predominantly petroleum products, at ports.
“For the first time in the container, the momentum reversed”
Aydın Erdemir, President of the Turkish Port Operators Association (TÜRKLİM), evaluated the fall in the maritime transport statistics in September for the Dünya. Pointing out that the decrease in the number of containers handled at ports in September gave critical signals for Türkiye’s foreign trade, Erdemir said, “One of the most important indicators in foreign trade with the West and especially in exports is the number of containers handled at ports. We have been growing regularly in the container for many years. The growth momentum has reversed for several months. Our speed and growth rate had decreased, but we had never been negative. When we look at the container, there is a decrease in both exports, imports, and transit. The conflict in the Black Sea has been pulling down the transit handling of containers for the last 4 months, but in September, the volume of transit containers dropped by nearly 40 percent. We started to feel the effects of the slowdown or recession in the global economy more severely at the ports.”
Expressing that the drastic decrease in the container load has also brought the total amount of cargo down rapidly, Erdemir said, “If this rapid decrease in the container continues in the remaining months of the year, we may remain below 2021 in the total cargo volume. This is one of our biggest concerns. Without the growth in imports in total freight, our figures would have been much worse. We are still good at imports in total freight. However, at the end of nine months, the overall growth was only 4.6 percent. It has become important that we revise our target for 2022 and take precautions. Therefore, the last three months have been very critical for our ports. If we cannot handle at least 1.2 million TEU each month, we will be below last year’s figures in containers. We need to exceed 100 million tons in each month remaining in the total load so that we can pass 2021. We handled 409 million tons in the first 9 months, and 526 million tons in 2021.”
The Ukraine war hits transit hard
In September, the biggest loss of cargo at ports was in transit container shipments. The loss in transit freight transportation, which has been in decline since May due to the Russia-Ukraine war, accelerated in September with the impact of the slowdown in the global economy. The number of transit containers handled at the ports, which decreased by 11 percent in May, 16.2 percent in June, 25 percent in July, and 29 percent in August, decreased by 39.4 percent in September on an annual basis. Aydın Erdemir, President of TÜRKLİM, said, “These losses, along with the Russia-Ukraine war, once showed how important the Black Sea is for our maritime transit transports.”
