NOVOROSSIYSK, RUSSIA — Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP) Group announced on Oct. 20 that its consolidated cargo turnover for the first nine months of 2015 reached 104 million tonnes, an increase of 2.9% compared to the same time last year.

Bulk cargo volumes totaled 8.7 million tonnes, including 4.5 million tonnes of grain; 847,000 tonnes of chemical cargo; 769,000 tonnes of sugar; 1.5 million tonnes of iron ore, and 1.08 million tonnes of coal.

Reduction of grain volumes in September compared to August is due to the shift of Egypt’s procurement schedule to October, and the willingness of grain traders to postpone shipment until the anticipated reduction of the export duty in October as well, NCSP said.

“NCSP Group has successfully ended three quarters of 2015 with 2.9% year-on-year volumes’ growth, in line with the Russian port industry,” said Sultan Batov, chief executive officer of PJSC NCSP. “Reduction of container traffic slowed down two times in tonnes, from -11.1% year-on-year for the first six months of 2015 down to -5.7% year-on-year for 9M 2015.”

General cargo volumes for the three quarters of 2015 increased by 1.6 million tonnes or 18.3% year-on-year, and reached 10.5 million tonnes.

Container traffic for the three quarters of 2015 reached 3.8 million tonnes and 358,000 TEU. Container volumes were down 5.7% year-on-year in tonnes versus the 14.9% drop in the industry overall, NCSP said.