Cargo handling at Helsinki Port falls by 8.9% in Q1

A total of 3.2 million tonnes of goods were transported through the Port of Helsinki from January to March, which is 8.9% lower than the amount of goods transported in stipulated period of the previous year, said the Helsinki Port in a press release on Monday.

Of the amount, 1.5 million tonnes were imports and 1.7 million tonnes were exports.

The imports reduced by 9.5% while the exports reduced by 9.3% compared to the January-March period of 2023.

Unitized cargo traffic amounted to 2.8 million tonnes, which was 4% lower than the amount handled in the same period of last year.

Political strikes nearly ground the container traffic through the Port of Helsinki to a halt for four weeks this spring, leading industrial operators and traders to turn to lorries for goods transports.

At the Port of Helsinki, this resulted in Vuosaari Harbour quieting down and heavy traffic increasing in West Harbour, in particular.

The strikes, however, did not affect passenger traffic, and the numbers of passengers increased slightly compared to the first quarter of the previous year.

“The start of the year was positive in cargo traffic, but the political strikes in February and March hit cargo transports through the Port of Helsinki hard. Lorry transports ran smoothly, but all other kinds of cargo traffic were nearly at a standstill. Some transport related to security of supply, however, was excluded from the strikes,” said Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Helsinki Ville Haapasaari.

”These exceptionally long strikes will without a doubt have a visible negative impact on our bottom line. At the same time, we are concerned about the impact of the strikes on the much anticipated positive turn in the Finnish economy,” Haapasaari added.

Meanwhile, a total of 1.7 million passengers travelled in scheduled passenger traffic from January to March, which is 4.7% more than in the corresponding period of the previous year.

As usual, the route between Helsinki and Tallinn was the busiest. A total of 1.4 million passengers (+5.5%) travelled on the route.

”MS Cinderella returning as the second vessel on the Viking Line Stockholm route is a positive thing, giving encouraging signals for the coming year in passenger traffic,” Haapasaari added.