Riga Free Port

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Riga Free Port is a major port on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, located in Riga, the capital of Latvia.

The Strek Terminal and the Riga Coal Terminal handle coal at the port.

In 2012, the Riga Free Port Authority launched a project to free Riga city center from coal cargo and relocate coal transshipment to new terminals on Krievu Island. The Krievu Island Terminals began operating in 2019.

Location

The Riga Free Port is located along the River Daugava, which drains into the Gulf of Riga, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The map below displays the location of the Krievu Island within the Port area.

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Background

As of 2012, coal handling was primarily handled by three stevedoring companies in the Riga Free Port. Details about the Riga Central Terminal (RCT) Ltd. and Strek Ltd. terminals are outlined below. The company LaCon Ltd., a dry bulk handling company, also handled more than 1 million tonnes of coal in 2011, although it was the smallest operator.

Riga Central Terminal (RCT) started providing its services in 1996. In 2011, with more than 7.5Mt of coal handled, RCT was the leading coal terminal at the Freeport of Riga. The company operated a multifunctional terminal, specialized in the handling of various dry bulk cargo, general cargo, ro-ro (roll-on-roll-off) and other types of cargo. In 2011, servicing of Panamax vessels was successfully started by RCT, allowing coal to be shipped not only to the Western European markets but also to Asia, South America, and South Africa.

Strek LLC was established in 1991 and had founders from three countries - Latvia, Russia, and France. In 1992, the company started to operate the first stage of its coal terminal at Riga Free Port. In 2011, Strek operated the second largest coal terminal at the Free Port of Riga and handled some 4.5mt of coal, which made up more than 95% of its total turnover. The terminal was located in the direct vicinity of the city centre.

Freeport of Riga hosts many multi-functional cargo terminals which handled cargoes of various types. In 2018, 34 stevedore companies operated in the port, in addition to many other storage, agents and support services companies. The port's total cargo handling reached 23.5 million tonnes in 2022, down from 32.7 million tonnes in 2019.

Relocation of terminals to Krievu Island (2012-2019)

In 2012, with the aim to free Riga city centre from coal cargo and relocate coal transshipment to new terminals on Krievu Island, the Riga Free Port Authority launched the project “Development of Infrastructure on Krievu Island for the Transfer of the Port Activities from the City Centre.” In December 2015, the construction of the basic infrastructure of the Krievu Island terminal was completed, and four deep-water berths (draught 15.5 m) with a total length of 1180 meters and the necessary access road and engineering infrastructure were built.

According to the city development plan, all bulk terminals had to be moved from the city centre to areas distant from the residential districts to improve the environmental situation and reduce the load of freight transport and railway. The planned terminal throughput capacity was 15 to 20 million tonnes per year, and project cost was €151.8 million. Alongside the construction of the additional infrastructure commenced by the Port Authority in September 2017, stevedoring companies were building administrative and process buildings and installing equipment for coal handling, crushing, transportation, and loading onto ships.

By 2018, the second stage of the construction work at the Krievu Island terminal was complete and fully operational. Construction of all additional infrastructure undertaken by the Port Authority in the territory of the stevedoring companies Strek and Riga Coal Terminal was complete.

The Freeport of Riga Development Programme for 2019-2028 summarized the following:

"The majority of the currently actively used territory of the Freeport of Riga is located on the right bank of the River Daugava, where handling and storage of all types of cargoes takes place, as well as industrial activity (ship building and repair, fish processing etc.). Closer to the city centre – in the vicinities of Eksportosta and Andrejsala – cargo handling is being performed also beyond the boundaries of the Freeport of Riga; the only specialised passenger ship service terminal is located on Andrejsala. Port companies, which operate on the right bank of the River Daugava, provides for approximately 90% of the port's total cargo turnover.

"A comparatively smaller part of the currently actively used territory the Freeport of Riga is located on the left bank of the River Daugava. During the period of the FRDP 2009–2018, Krievu Island has been significantly developed, where the FRA has implemented the investment project 'Development of Infrastructure on Krievu Island for the Transfer of Port Activities from the City Centre' by creating a multi-functional infrastructure of bulk terminals. As a result of the project, the complete transfer of coal handling from Eksportosta to Krievu Island, as well as complete discontinuation of cargo handling on Andrejsala is planned for 2019."

The port map below is also featured in the 2019-2028 plan.

Riga Coal Terminal

On September 19, 2014, a memorandum of strategic cooperation was signed between Riga Coal Terminal and China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to increase cargo turnover in Riga port by 2018. The amount of expansion was not specified.

In spring 2019, Riga Coal Terminal's operation became active. Its terminal specializes in handling of energy and metallurgical coal of all kinds and is located at Krievu Island. It operates two berths (KRS6 and KRS7) and has 8 Mtpa capacity.

Riga Coal Terminal LLC (Rīgas Ogļu Termināls, SIA) owns and operates the terminal, which is owned by Riga Commercial Port LLC (Rīgas Tirdzniecības Osta SIA), which was renamed Riga Port JSC in 2022. The owners of Riga Port JSC are MCH Investments JSC (60%; partially owned by the families of Andris Škēle and Ainārs Šlesers), "Žurnāli un Diena" JSC (20%) and SIA Ostas parks (20%).

Strek Terminal

Strek has also relocated its commercial activity from Eksportosta to Krievu Island in 2019. According to the company's website, its dry bulk capacity is 5 million tonnes with potential to increase it to 8 million tonnes per annum. It appears that Strek terminal used to be a specialized coal handling terminal, but after modernization the terminal is capable of receiving, transshipment and storage of pig iron, coke, timber and other cargoes.

Decreasing coal shipments, 2022 reversal

Coal handling volumes at Riga Freeport were at its highest in 2014 in the last 10 years, reaching 14.9 million tonnes. As of 2017, the share of the Freeport of Riga in the Russian coal export market was approximately 6%. Coal handling volumes dropped sharply from over 10 million tonnes in 2019 to just 2.6 million tonnes in 2020 and 1.1 million tonnes in 2021, as Russian diverted its coal exports to its own ports. However 2022 showed a reversal with 5.1 million tonnes being handled. As Latvia has the infrastructure to store and handle coal, it managed to attract coal transit from new regions such as Kazakhstan, Africa, Australia and Indonesia. According to an industry report by Argus, 0.63 million tonnes of coal were shipped from Kazakhstan to Riga Free Port in 2022. However in the first half of 2023, coal handling volumes in the Riga port have reportedly reduced, although no figures were available.

Project Details

• Owner:
  • Strek LLC (Strek Terminal);
  • Riga Coal Terminal LLC (Rīgas Ogļu Termināls, SIA)
• Parent:
  • Private individuals and Latvian Railways (5.8%) - Strek Terminal
  • Riga Port JSC
• Location: Krievu Island, Riga, Latvia
• Coal Capacity (Million tonnes per annum):
• Status: Operating
• Type: Exports
• Coal Source: Russia