JSC National Transport Co.’s (NTC) new fertilizer transshipment terminal under construction in the Russian Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga has been approved to also handle liquid fertilizers.
NTC is a joint-venture company established by EuroChem Group AG and Siberian Coal Energy Co. (SUEK) at the end of 2020 (GM Jan. 22, 2021). The company’s CEO since May 2021 has been Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, founder of both EuroChem and SUEK.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approved amendments to the country’s territorial planning scheme, which allowed the construction of the terminal with a design capacity of 8 million mt/y, up from the original 7 million mt/y, Interfax reported on Aug. 22. The additional 1 million mt/y will be for handling the transshipment of liquid fertilizers.
Russia currently has no terminals for the transshipment of liquid fertilizers, requiring shipments to be directed through the Estonian port of Sillamäe. According to earlier reports, NTC was targeting the completion of the first phase of operations at the new terminal in 2024, but it is not clear if this schedule remains on track.
NTC has more than 47,000 cargo railcars and six Russian marine dry bulk terminals under its control, including two terminals in the port of Murmansk and one in Tuapse. SUEK purchased the Tuapse dry bulk terminal and one of the Murmansk terminals from EuroСhem three years ago for a reported $274 million.