Russian phosphate producer PhosAgro Group and Global Ports, a stevedoring division of Delo Group, have entered into an agreement to transship PhosAgro’s fertilizer through the First Container Terminal operated by Global Ports in St. Petersburg, Russia. The agreement also covers increased shipments through Global Ports’ Petrolesport Terminal, also in St Petersburg.
The agreement follows a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) inked between the two parties in April for the handling of an increased volume of PhosAgro’s fertilizers (GM April 21, p. 28). According to the MOC, the fertilizers to be transshipped for export will be produced at PhosAgro’s Cherepovets plant in Russia’s Vologda region.
The agreement was signed for a five-year period and will be effective from 2024-2028. The parties will be able to export at least 3 million mt/y, according to Global Ports, with the fertilizers loaded from special containers onto seagoing vessels.
The new cargo volumes “will increase the capacity utilization of Great
Port of St. Petersburg, which is the most important transport hub for Russian
foreign trade,” said Global Ports CEO Albert Likholet.
“For PhosAgro, the Russian market has been and remains a priority,” said
Mikhail Rybnikov, PhosAgro CEO. “At the same time, under the conditions of
external restrictions, our company was able to quickly redirect export flows,
increasing the supply of eco-efficient fertilizers to the markets of friendly
countries. Partnership with Global Ports will enable PhosAgro to expand and
diversify export capabilities.”
Global Ports handled 0.7 million mt of PhosAgro fertilizers at its Petrolesport Terminal in 2022. According to Global Ports, the Russian fertilizer group stopped the transshipment of fertilizers through Russian logistics company Ultramar LLC’s terminal in the Russian Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga last year, but was not confirmed by Green Markets.
Global Ports in 2022 began work to adapt its First Container Terminal in St Petersburg to facilitate the handling of non-containerized cargoes to compensate for the decline in container transshipments via the Baltic Sea.