About The Portal To Russia ----- How To Subscribe ----- üÌÅËÔÒÏÎÎÁÑ ÐÏÞÔÁ Dr. Palms

Official Opening of Fertilizer Terminal at Vostochny Port.

Staffed by 120 workers, the 215-meter complex has berth-side depth of 11.5 meters and can load 20,000 tons per day in vessels of up to 50,000 dead weight tons. The terminal can unload four hopper-wagons simultaneously. The complex also includes new closed storage capacity of 100,000 tons (35 rail wagons), built at a cost of $4 million. Once fully operational, the terminal will have theoretical capacity of 2.5 million tons per annum, the largest of any fertilizer complex in the Former Soviet Union.

Vostochny will now handle all Russian fertilizer exports into the Asia-Pacific Region. Previously much of this cargo had gone out through ports in Ukraine (primarily Yuzhny) and the Baltics (primarily Ventspils). Experts estimate that diversion of the 1.5 million tons of fertilizer currently exported to agricultural producers in China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia will add up to $75m in revenue for Vostochny and will improve delivery times very significantly. The new terminal will eliminate the inefficient, time-consuming practice of lining up large numbers of rail wagons loaded with fertilizer in expectation of specialized vessels. The new transportation regime will substantially reduce transit times from the Urals and Western Siberia to ice-free Vostochny.

The new terminal is the first port expansion project brought to fruition under the guidance of the port’s new majority shareholder, Severstaltrans. Severstaltrans, the transportation arm of Russian steel major Severstal, intends to invest $100-$150 million in Vostochny over the next several years, beginning with $20 million in 2002. A total of $10 million was invested in the new fertilizer complex, which is located on an 11-hectare site that formerly housed a wood-chip complex. The terminal is operated by Vostochno-Uralsky Terminal Company, founded in 1998 to manage the facility. Partners to the venture include Vostochny Port, Silvinit (Perm Region) and Transkhimexport. Vostochny Port, the largest port on Russia’s eastern seaboard, specializes in handling coal and other bulks, forest products, general and containerized cargoes. The fertilizer has handled increasing volumes of cargo over the last several years, with turnover reaching 600,000 tons in 2001. Most of the fertilizer comes in from producers in the Urals and Western Siberia, including: Azot-Kemerovo), Silvinit, Uralkalii, Azot-Bereznyaki and others. The first regular shipments of fertilizer to New Zealand began in 2001 and shipments to Australia will commence in 2002.

A grand opening of a mineral fertilizer complex was held in Vostochny on Feb. 4.

It is part of East Ural Terminal set up in 1998. This is the port's first major project carried out with participation of its new major shareholder Severstaltrans. The ceremony was attended by Minister of Transport Sergei Frank.

EUT will become a key link in the new transport route of Russian fertilizer to Southeast Asia.

SST plans to handle a number of other major projects in this year. For instance, an Eastern Petrochemical Terminal to handle methanol is to be put into operation in Vostochny in half a year. Another project is a complex to handle liquefied gases. Total investments in these and other projects are expected at $100 to $150 million, of which $20 million are to be invested in this year.

Vostochny port's policies are based on economic feasibility for Russian Far East and Russia as a whole. Two-three years ago, million tons of mineral fertilizer went from Urals to Japan, Korea and China via Baltic ports. To date, this figure has grown to 1.5 million tons. The route via Vostochny is shorter and, therefore, more convenient.

In 2001 EUT handled 556,000 tons of fertilizer to Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. Earlier, it had no warehouse to store fertilizer than can be loaded only in dry weather. Now that such warehouse is put into operation, its capacity will grow.

"ZR" FILE: EUT is a transport complex (nearly 11 hectares) for loading fertilizer on sea going ships. Wagon unloading complex can handle 4 wagons at a time, shiploaders with capacity 450-500 tons/hour can handle different types of fertilizer. A covered Finnish warehouse with area 12,000 sq. m and capacity 100,000 tons can store up to 4 grades of potassium fertilizer and up to 4 grades of nitrogen fertilizer. Deep-water ice free berth is 215 m long and has water depth 11.5 m, which is sufficient for ships with a capacity 40,000 tons. Capacity of fertilizer complex is 2-2.5 million tons annually.