"According to Thursday's morning (December 31st) data, reloadings have amounted to 38.22 million tons this year, which is a really impressive result. It's been a record year, well ahead of the previous record, which was set in 2011 when Eastern countries sought to sell commodities and that growth was not entirely natural. Now we can indeed be happy about the substantial benefits brought to the state by public and private investment," Vaitkus told BNS.
The previous cargo record was achieved in 2011 when the port handled approximately 36.5 million tons, he added.
Even though the developments in container traffic were disappointing this year, the port of Klaipeda ranked first among the ports of the Baltic countries in terms of TEUs reloading in 2015, Vaitkus said.
He also expects this year's abundant harvest to contribute to the growth of cargo handling next year.
Still, Vaitkus sees big uncertainty surrounding the developments in 2016, in particular due to a potential increase in freight transportation tariffs of Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways), the state-owned railway operator.
"I think next year will be very difficult. Even though stevedores are optimistic in their forecasts, our long-term experience shows the existence of big threats from the neighboring ports and the growth of competition. The behavior of Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai will be very important: if they raise transportation ratios, this may have serious repercussions for cargo flows," he said.
Stevedoring companies of the port had not yet signed freight transportation contracts with Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai, Vaitkus said citing information at his disposal.
"This implies huge uncertainty, which is scaring us. Of course, we also don't know anything about potential geopolitical changes and their effect on our life. These factors are beyond the control of the port's authority or the stevedores," he said.
In 2014, cargo traffic at the port increased by an annual 9% to 36.41 million tons.
