Ports in Russia handled less cargo in 2024, although several commodity groups expanded. Figures from the Association of Commercial Sea Ports, reported by Interfax on 16 January 2025, put the annual total at 886.3 million tonnes, down 2.3% from 2023. The overall decline therefore did not describe every part of the port business.
Different cargoes moved in opposite directions
Dry cargo reached 441.1 million tonnes and liquid cargo 445.2 million tonnes. Their respective year-on-year falls were 1.9% and 2.6%. Within dry cargo, weaker coal volumes contrasted with higher grain and fertiliser shipments:
- Coal: 188.1 million tonnes, down 9.8%.
- Grain: 74.8 million tonnes, up 6%.
- Mineral fertilisers: 42.5 million tonnes, up 15.7%.
These are cargo weights, not estimates of sales or profits. A tonne of one commodity need not generate the same handling income as a tonne of another. The mix matters when interpreting an aggregate total, but the volume figures alone cannot establish whether a terminal earned more or less money.
The basin comparison
Kommersant’s same-day account placed the Azov–Black Sea basin at 275.7 million tonnes, down 5.4%, and the Baltic basin at 273 million tonnes, up 0.6%. The Far Eastern basin handled 236.5 million tonnes, down 2.3%. Thus the two largest basins recorded different directions of change despite relatively close annual totals.
What the totals do not establish
An annual basin figure combines multiple ports and cargo streams. It does not identify the waiting time at an individual berth, the availability of storage or the utilisation of a particular terminal. Nor should the percentage change in one cargo category be added directly to another: their starting volumes differ. A proper contribution calculation must take those different weights into account.
The reporting period and publication date also serve different purposes. These results describe January–December 2024, but became news in January 2025. They are a retrospective measure, not a forecast for the following year. The published breakdown gives a firmer basis for discussing cargo composition than for assigning a single cause to the overall decline.
Sources: Interfax; Kommersant.
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