Russia's largest sea port operator, Novorossiisk Commercial Sea Port (NMTP.RS), Wednesday said its cargo turnover for the first three months of the year was up 14% from the same period a year earlier.
Cargo turnover totaled 20.97 million metric tons, three quarters of which were liquids. In the first quarter of 2008, liquids accounted for two thirds of the total.
The volume of petroleum products shipped through the port rose particularly fast, up 25% to 3.20 million tons, from 2.56 million tons a year earlier.
"Additional volumes of oil products, ore and iron-ore concentrate ... allowed us to fully counterbalance an inevitable reduction in turnover of containers, ferrous metals, timber and several other cargoes," Chief Executive Igor Vilinov said.