OREANDA-NEWS. January 10, 2012.  Cargo traffic at the port of Ventspils in 2011 grew by 15% year-over-year, to 28.5 million tons, the Ventspils Port Authority statistics said.

Handling of bulk cargo as well as general goods rose by 25% to 10.9 million tons and 2.5 million tons, respectively. Transshipment of liquid bulk increased by 7% to 14,984,000 tons. The volume includes 14.5 million tons of petroleum products (+8%). Shipments of coal soared 81%, of fertilizers – by 18% to 3 million tons. In November 2011, Port of Ventspils throughput increased by 23 percent. 
In 2011, the port saw a 46-percent gain in Ro-Ro cargo, to 2 million tons.

Latvia’s Free port of Ventspils is a deepwater ice-free port. The country’s premier port ranks among leading ports on the Baltic Sea and top 20 European ports. The port can accommodate Aframax size tankers of 130.000 DWT and Panamax vessels of 75.000 DWT. The port encompasses 2623,9 hectares with terminals for handling oil products, crude oil, liquid chemicals, mineral fertilizer, metals, forest products, coal, grain, juice concentrates, containers and Ro-Ro cargoes. In 2011, Port of Ventspils handled 24,815,000 tons of cargo, down 6.8% from a year before.