OREANDA-NEWS. On 12 August 2009 Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (LSE: NCSP, RTS and MICEX: NMTP) announced consolidated operating results for January-July 2009: in the reporting period cargo turnover of NCSP Group totaled 50,601.9 thousand tones, which exceeds the turnover of the same period last year by 8.4% or 3,919.9 thousand tonnes.

Grain handling volumes in January-July 2009 more than tripled over the same period last year and increased by 3,567.2 thousand tonnes. The share of grain in NCSP Group’s total cargo turnover comprised 9.9% versus 3.1% for the first seven months of last year.

In the reporting period handling of iron ore and ore concentrate has reached 1,869.8 thousand tonnes, making up 3.7% of the Group’s total cargo turnover.

Volumes of oil products and crude oil in the first seven months of 2009 have also increased by 1,357.6 thousand tonnes (21.3%) and 397.2 thousand tonnes (1.6%) respectively. As compared to same period last year. The share of crude oil in the Group’s total cargo turnover dropped from 54.5% to 51.0% while the share of oil products grew from 13.6% to 15.7%.

Handling of pig iron in January-July 2009 has grown by 54.8 thousand tonnes or almost doubled year-on-year.

Volumes of seed oils, perishable cargo, mineral fertilizers, and sugar in the reporting period together increased by 168.2 thousand tonnes versus January-July 2008.

Handling of ferrous and non-ferrous metals in the first seven months of 2009 versus same period in 2008 decreased by 278.5 thousand tonnes (5.2%) and 5.2 thousand tonnes (1.0%) respectively.

Container traffic of the Group in January-July 2009 dropped by 82 thousand TEU (37.2%) versus same period last year.

Timber handling in January-July 2009 decreased by 324.2 thousand cubic meters (172 thousand tonnes) or 25.3% (24.1%) versus same period last year. On the other hand the negative trend in this segment slowed down by 3-3.5 percent points year-on-year as compared to the results for the first half of 2009.

Also in the reporting period volumes of cement, UAN liquid fertilizer, scrap metal, and other cargo together decreased by 1,168.2 thousand tonnes versus same period last year.

Nevertheless the absolute increase of NCSP Group’s total cargo turnover, including a number of priority cargoes, comprised 7,333.7 thousand tonnes for the first seven months of 2009, which is twice as much as the total decrease in above mentioned segments. This reflects the success of the Group’s policy of diversifying its cargo base, which helps to maintain growth rates in operational indicators against negative macroeconomic background.