OREANDA-NEWS. July 15, 2011. Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port Group (LSE: NCSP, MICEX: NMTP) reports consolidated operating results for January-June 2011.

To ensure comparability with previous periods the statistics have been adjusted for the volumes handled by Primorsk Trade Port Ltd., which was acquired by NCSP Group in January 2011.

Liquid cargo volumes recorded an increase of 1 621 thousand tons or 2.6% versus the same period of last year. The slippage in crude oil volumes versus the 2010 schedule (-520 thousand tons or -0.9% versus the first half of 2010) was mostly accumulated in the months of January-February 2011 due to bad weather conditions in Novorossiysk and Primorsk. The launch of diesel transshipment in Primorsk and sustainable growth of fuel oil transshipment in Novorossiysk contributed to the growth of oil products transshipment volumes across the Group (+2 231 thousand tons or +33% versus the first half of 2010).

Bulk cargo volumes in the reporting period declined by 2 625 thousand tons or -37.0% versus the same period of last year, due to the grain export ban.  However contraction of grain handling volumes of 4 397 thousand tons was partially compensated by growing volumes of iron ore and ore concentrate (by 1 425 thousand tons or 269%), mineral fertilizers (by 124 thousand tons or 12%), sugar (by 196 thousand tons or 19%), and cement (by 27 thousand tons).

General cargo turnover in the first half of 2011 totaled 4 922 thousand tons, representing an 891 thousand tons or a -15.3% reduction versus the first six months of 2010. Ferrous metals and timber represented the bulk of this reduction. Timber volumes declined due to the events in Northern Africa and the Middle East, which represent the main market for Russian producers.  Volumes of ferrous metals declined due to a combination of factors that contribute to the global market environment for this cargo type.

During the first six months of 2011 containers remained one of the most dynamic segments of the Group. We note that container traffic in TEU terms in January-June 2011 increased by 54% versus the same period of last year and totaled 314 thousand TEU. This includes growth of container handling at OJSC Novoroslesexport terminal by 82%, OJSC NCSP terminal by 35.8% and LLC BSC terminal by 34.2%.

NCSP Group’s total cargo turnover in the reporting period amounted to 76 819 thousand tons which represents a 1 090 thousand tons or -1.4% decrease versus January-June 2010.

According to Rado Antolovich, Vice-president for sales and marketing, “During the first six months of 2011 the Group’s management worked hard to compensate for the cargo turnover shortfall which resulted from the grain export ban and political instability in the Middle East and North Africa. Container traffic became the main growth driver for NCSP and totaled 46% in terms of weight and 54% in TEU terms versus the same period of last year. Taking into account that the grain export ban was lifted on July, 1 we can expect the respective bulk cargo volumes growth during the second half of the year and continuation of the main trends recorded in the first half of 2011 across other cargo segments”.