Compared to Q1 2016, the volume of freights carried by land and pipeline transport increased by 3.6 million tons or by 13.6% in Q1 2017. The most notable growth in the volume of freights carried was recorded in road transport – of 2.6 million tons or 22.2%.
The volume of freights carried by land and pipeline transport increased by 13.6%, while freight turnover grew by 9%. There was an increase of 1.1 million tons or by 8.1% in the volume of freights carried by rail, whereas freight turnover rose by 13%. The volume of freights carried by road grew by 2.6 million tons or by 22.2%, while freight turnover increased by 6.7%. The volume and freight turnover of oil products transported via the main oil products pipeline reduced by 5.1%, according to data from the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia.
In Q1 freights transported to and from Latvian ports accounted for 18.5 million tons, up by 8.7% YoY.
There were 17 million tons of freights shipped from ports, up by 8.8% YoY. The increase in the volume of freights shipped was facilitated by a 1.7 million ton or 41.4% increase in the volume of coal loaded onto ships, as well as a 17.5% increase in freights in containers loaded and a 10.7% increase in roll on/ roll off. There was a decrease in the volume of shipped oil products – of 13.6%, grain and grain products – of 15.8%, mineral fertilizers – of 5%, and timber – of 9.5%.
The volume of freights received at ports increased by 7.1%. This was mainly due to an increase in unloaded freight in containers (of 22.7%) and roll on/ roll off (of 7.6%), as well as a 2.3% upturn in the volume of unloaded metals and articles thereof.
In Q1 Riga International Airport received and shipped 4.7 thousand tons of cargo, down by 3.8% YoY.
In Q1 60.9 million passengers were carried by land passenger transport, up by 0.8% or by 0.5 million passengers YoY.
The number of passengers carried by rail transport grew by 6.4%, the number of passengers carried by regular bus traffic lines increased by 0.8%, whereas the number of passengers carried by urban electric transport remained at the level of the previous year (a decrease of 0.1%).
In Q1 there were 179 thousand passengers who arrived at and departed from Latvian ports with ferries, up by 20% YoY.
There were 1.8 thousand passengers who arrived at the Riga Passenger Terminal via cruise ships, up by 20.9% YoY.
In Q1, 1.1 million passengers arrived at and departed from the Riga International Airport, up by 2.6% YoY. Out of them, 0.6 million passengers arrived at and departed from the Riga International Airport via Latvian airlines – 11.2% more than a year before. (BNN/Business World Magazine)