Helsinki Port’s cargo traffic shrinks by 6.5% in Q1

The coronavirus pandemic have already made drastic negative impacts on the operations of the Port of Helsinki in the first quarter of the year.

Although the affects of the pandemic on the port’s cargo traffic in the first quarter had been surprisingly little, the complete halt in passenger traffic is weakening the port’s revenue outcome quiet significantly, said an official press release.

In addition to the coronavirus, the early figures for cargo traffic are also affected by the recent strikes of workers in the paper and forestry industries.

From January to March, the total cargo traffic of the port amounted to 3.3 million tonnes, which is 6.5% less than that in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Unitised cargo, meaning goods transported in containers, trucks and trailers, in the quarter amounted to 2.8 million tonnes, posting a year-on-year drop of 5.4% and 118,000 Twenty Equivalent Units (TEUs), marking a huge slide of 10% year on year.

The COVID-19, the outbreak of which was declared a pandemic in March, affected the sea traffic a significantly and the lowered capacity in Asian traffic slowed down the circulation of containers. Of the unitised cargo, 1.4 million tonnes were imported (-1.5%) and 1.5 million tonnes were exported (+8.7%). The unitised cargo traffic on the Helsinki-Tallinn route however grew by 4.0% in the first quarter.

“More than 70 per cent of the imports via the Port of Helsinki are consumer goods,” said Port of Helsinki CEO Ville Haapasaari, adding, “Their availability is particularly important during crises. Now that some of the ships are staying in dock, many RoPax ferries, supported by the National Emergency Supply Agency, have provided their car decks entirely for cargo traffic. They have strongly contributed to the transport of medication and food to Finland.”

In terms of passenger traffic through the port, the year started promisingly with the number of passengers registering a year-on-year spike of 8.5% in January–February. However, as the coronavirus pandemic spread, the Finnish government recommended several measures that restricted travelling, resulting in travelling by ship practically coming to a halt in March.

During the first quarter of the year, 1.8 million passengers travelled via the Helsinki Port, which indicates a 15.4% slide in passenger traffic compared to its corresponding figure in the first quarter of 2019. Traffic decreased by 13.5% on the Tallinn route, by 21.0% on the Stockholm route, and by 2.7% on the Travemünde route.

The group’s profit forecast for the current year is significantly weakened due to the ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic.