Increased traffic accelerates investments at Constanta Port

Increased traffic accelerates investments at Constanta Port

Increased traffic accelerates investments at Constanta Port 1657 1080 ROMANIA PROPERTY CLUB

The historically high traffic posted in 2023 – over 90 million tons of cargo – provided further incentive to central authorities to upgrade existing facilities.

The main goods shipped through Constanta are cereals (38% of the traffic), seeds, iron minerals, steel cast, oil products, and fertilizers.

Most recently, the Ministry of Transportation announced massive 1 billion EUR investments for Constanta Sud, meant to upgrade Wharfs III S and IV S and add 17 new deep-sea berths, 155 ha of operating area, and 36 ha of logistics platforms.

Infrastructure investments for the port sum up to 1.5 billion EUR. The “Administration of the Sea Ports” National Company recently organized a 108 million EUR bid to upgrade the road access points to the port. Furthermore, there is a schedule to upgrade rail infrastructure and deploy new trains. For financing, the Government is reaching out to both internal and EU funding and pursues PPPs with Middle Eastern and South Korean investors, to enhance global trade partnerships and unlock new commerce routes.

GREEN PORT MASTER PLAN & QATAR ON THE AGENDA

Authorities of Constanta Port announced they are working on the “Green Port Master Plan”, taking in consideration the requirements of the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) and FuelEU maritime regulation, proposed by the European Commission.

The PIONEERS project, which takes place over five years (2021-2026), has received funding under the HORIZON 2020 program, the Green Ports as Multimodal Hubs for Sustainable and Smart Mobility axis, which aims to support ports to meet the European Commission’s requirements on transition to climate neutrality by 2050.

Romania’s PM, Marcel Ciolacu met in April 2024 his Quatar counterpart, Seik Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the Romanian official declaring a target for Romania to become Quatar investments bridge towards European Union, with projects worth of 15 billion EUR under analysis.

2023 – ANOTHER HISTORICAL YEAR FOR CONSTANTA PORT

After the 12% increase in 2022 over 2021, 2023 brought another record high for the annual traffic, reaching 92,5 million tons, a 22.5% increase over 2022.

Maritime traffic increased by 18% YOY, up to 71 million tons, and river traffic increased by 40% compared to the previous year, reaching 22 million tons.

Cereals remained at the top of traffic increases, with more than 50%, surpassing 36 million tons in 2023, compared to 2022 when 24 million tons were recorded.

Regarding Ukraine, the total traffic of goods was 25 million tons in 2023. Ukrainian grains that transited the port of Constanta represented more than 14 million tons.