Turkey’s seaports have been identified as a major benefactor of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Turkey did not prohibit Russian flag vessels from entering its ports, whereas the United States, the European Union, and many Asian nations did so in response to sanctions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine in late February. According to data, the processing of transshipment cargoes in Turkish ports increased by 6,000 tonnes from January to April this year compared to the same time last year.
The ports handled 130.8 million tonnes of cargo from January to April 2022 which include 27.7 million tonnes of transit cargo against 124.9 million tonnes of cargo including 24.4 million tonnes of transit cargo in the same period in 2021.
However, the blockade of the black sea has a great impact on Turkish ports in terms of transshipment of Russian and Ukrainian cargoes. The Black Sea washes the shores of both Russia and Ukraine which are now fighting each other thus their external trade is greatly hampered.
Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure data show that the largest Turkish port on the Black Sea, the port of Samsun, handled 3 million tonnes of cargo during the first four months of this year compared to 3.6 million tonnes of cargo in the same period last year.
Additionally, another major Turkish port, Zonguldak, handled 3.7 million tonnes of cargo during the period this year against 3.9 million tonnes in January-April 2021.
The port of Eregli also saw a significant fall in handling transshipment goods by 0.5 million tonnes during the same period.
The smaller Turkish ports also saw a slight fall in handling Russian and Ukrainian transshipment goods as overall transportation of cargoes through Black Sea coasts has decreased.
In the first quarter of 2022, Russia exported 17.2 million tonnes of cargo to the Russian domestic market against 19.6 million tonnes in the same period of the previous year.
The Turkish ports also received a higher volume of cargoes from other countries in the Black Sea, as Bulgaria and Romania have banned Russian ships from entry into their ports. From Bulgaria, the Turkish ports received 1.2 million tonnes of cargoes during January-April 2022 and 2.4 million tonnes from Romania during the same period. At the same time, from Georgia, the Turkish ports received 799,572 tonnes of cargo in January-April 2022 compared to 696,087 tonnes in the same period last year.
