Port of Ust-Luga

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Port of Ust-Luga has several coal terminals and is located in the southern part of Luga Bay of the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea, about 120 km from Saint-Petersburg in Northern Russia. The largest terminal is the Rosterminalugol, operated by Rosterminalugol JSC.

Location

The map below shows the location of the Rosterminalugol terminal, the largest operating coal terminal at the Port of Ust-Luga.

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Background

The Port of Ust-Luga consists of several coal terminals, each of which is described below. In 2020, the four terminals handled approximately 37 million tonnes of coal in total. In 2022, coal handling reached 38.5 million tonnes of coal. In 2023, coal handling increased to 42.1 million tonnes.

Rosterminalugol

The Rosterminalugol terminal is one of the largest coal terminals in Russia. It began operations in 2006 with a capacity of 7 million tonnes per year and has 2 berths of 240 m in length. The terminal has a fully automatic loading process. Rosterminalugol has steadily expanded its capacity and throughput volumes. In 2010, the port handled 7.5 million tonnes; in 2020, it was handled 26.5 million tonnes, the largest amount ever handled by a Russian coal terminal in a single year. In 2020, the main recipients of coal from the terminal were the Netherlands (24%), Morocco (16%), Brazil (8%), Germany (8%), France and Spain (5% each, respectively).

As of February 2022, Rosterminalugol was controlled by several private individuals Iskander Mahmudov, Andrey Bokarev and Andrey Kozitsyn, who are also behind Kuzbassrazrezugol. In 2022, new owner of the company become SpetsInvest JC with unknown beneficiaries. However the ultimate ownership chain leads to Kuzbassrazrezugol and Ural Metals and Metallurgical Company.

In 2022, the terminal handled 21.6 million tonnes of coal versus 24.4 million tonnes in 2021. In the first 6 months of 2024, the terminal handled 9.8 million tonnes of coal, a reduction of 11% compared to the same period in 2023.

Yug-2 / NKT Terminal

The Yug-2 terminal, also called the NKT terminal, was built as a multi-purpose cargo terminal in 2011. In 2019, the terminal handled 3.1 million tonnes of coal, which increased to 5 million tonnes in 2020, although the company operating the terminal still recorded a net loss for the year. The first owner of the terminal, Transport and Logistics Complex JSC, went bankrupt in 2017. The terminal was then taken over by New Communal Technologies (NKT), who transformed the terminal from a general cargo facility into a specialized coal terminal. NKT completed its purchase of the terminal asset in May 2021 for 233 million rubles (approximately US$3 million).

In the first 9 months of 2021, the terminal handled 7.5 million tonnes of coal, 3.7 times more than the same period a year prior. However, in September 2021, NKT was purchased by Ruskhimalliance, which announced that it was no longer interested in handling coal at the Yug-2 Terminal. NKT was purchased for approximately US$500 million. Rushkimalliance is owned by Gazprom and JSC Rusgazdobycha and already owns and operates a large natural gas liquefaction and transportation plant in Ust-Luga. It has plans to add LNG transshipment capabilities to the Yug-2 Terminal. The new owners planned to use the facilities and the area for their new projects and not to handle coal. However in 2022 the terminal still handled 8.6 million tonnes, fulfilling the old contracts.

A media report from May 2023 referred to the terminal as "under question" given the new market structure. An industry report from early 2024 confirmed that the terminal stopped handling coal.

UPK Terminal

The UPK Terminal is owned by Universal Transhipment Complex LLC, part of the PPK Group. The terminal has an annual capacity of 5.8 million tonnes per year. In 2019, the terminal handled 5.1 million tonnes of cargo in total. In 2020, the terminal handled 4.8 million tonnes, including 4.4 million tonnes of coal. In 2021 and 2022, the terminal handled 4.2 and 3.9 million tonnes of coal, respectively. As of November 2024, the company's website stated that the capacity of the terminal is 5.1 million tonnes (reduced from 5.8 previously). In the 9 months of 2024, the terminal shipped 4 million tonnes of coal.

Ust-Luga Container Terminal (UCLT)

The ULCT Terminal began operations in 2018. In 2019, it handled 899,000 tonnes of cargo. It is part of Global Ports holding, where it holds 80% while the other 20% is owned by German company Eurogate. The terminal handles dry bulk cargo such as fertilizers and coal with reported capacity of 3 million tonnes per annum, according to the company's website. However it appeared that this terminal did not handle any coal in 2022. A media report from May 2023 suggested that the terminal as "under question" given the new market structure. However 2024 industry reports indicated that the terminal continued to handle coal, with 2 million tonnes shipped during the 9 months of 2024.

Lugaport Terminal (UTT Ust-Luga)

Another new coal terminal launched in Ust-Luga port in 2022 Lugaport, owned by railcar operator Novotrans. It shipped its first experimental cargo in August 2022.

Official commissioning of the universal trade terminal was achieved in December 2023. The first of the five berths of the Lugaport terminal was put into operation after receiving permission from Rosmorrechflot. The new port capacities in the Baltic will help reorient transport flows from the overloaded ports of southern Russia. According to Rosmorport, the construction of berths No. 1 and No. 2 of the Lugaport terminal was completed in May-June 2023, but documents for their commissioning were being prepared. Berths No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 were under construction. Berths 1 and 2 have capacities of 10.3 and 7 million tonnes. The terminal is designed for transhipment of bulk, general, grain and food cargo with capacity of 24.3 million tons per year. The universal terminal will be commissioned in stages. Scheduled completion is by the end of 2025. In the 9 months of 2024, the terminal already shipped 4 million tonnes of coal. In September 2024, the terminal handled the first Post Panamax class vessel, where around 110 thousand tons of coal were loaded from the Kemerovo region and Khakassia to be sent to Turkey.

Ultramar Terminal

The new multifunctional transhipment Ultramar Terminal started operating in 2022 in the northern part of the Ust-Luga port, specializing in the storage and transhipment of mineral fertilizers, ore and metallurgical products, coal, and other bulk and general cargo. It handled 4 million tonnes of coal in 2022. In 2023, coal handling increased to 8 million tonnes.

Project Details

• Owner: Various
• Location: Northern Russia
• Coal Capacity (Million tonnes per annum): 41 (estimate for all terminals combined)
• Status: Operating
• Type: Exports
• Source of Coal:

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