Constanța Port Day brings together 68 companies in Novi Sad – New projects strengthened the position of the “Eastern Gate of Europe”
The growing importance of the port of Constanța as a transit hub for the entire region, positive trends in the Middle Corridor, as well as the necessity of joint engagement in increasing the freight transport volume on the river Danube – read the joint conclusions of the participants of the 14th Constanța Port Day held in Novi Sad on September 22nd.
Following a two-year break imposed by the COVID pandemic, the traditional event, organized by the Constanța National Company Maritime Ports Administration SA, through its representative in Serbia, once again served as an opportunity for representatives of the port of Constanța to meet with their partners from Serbia and the region and strengthen good relations and cooperation.
This year’s event, held at the Sheraton Hotel, was attended by 200 delegates representing 68 companies from Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
In addition to the Constanța Maritime Ports Administration, delegates of the 6 largest port operators also attended the Novi Sad event – Comvex, Chmpex, CSCT, SCS, TTS, Umex.
The representative of the port of Constanța in Belgrade, Vladan Mišić, underlined that he is very proud the event once again brought together a large number of actors in the field of transport, logistics, and agri-business, thus once again confirming there is a great and mutual interest for cooperation.
In the last two years, the port of Constanța had a favorable period from the point of view of the traffic operated. Last year, the highest volume was registered in the Romanian maritime ports. For the year 2022, according to preliminary data, an increase in goods traffic of approximately 13% – 51 million tons was registered in the first 8 months, a trend that creates the conditions for exceeding the record traffic from 2021.
As Commercial Director George Gabriel Visan reminded in his presentation, in the first half of 2022, a total of 4.1 million tons of goods originated or transited to Serbia through the port of Constanța. These were mainly grains (about 840,000 tons), natural and chemical fertilizers (1.53 million tons), iron and steel scrap (about 925,000 tons), solid mineral fuels (about 310,000 tons), as well as iron ores, blast furnaces slag, metal products, equipment, and machinery…
The goods from Serbia that transited the port of Constanța were destined for South Korea, Spain, Iran, Egypt, Portugal, Iraq, Sudan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Italy.
During the event, topics related to the reconfiguration of transport routes Central Asia-Caspian Sea-Black Sea were also discussed, with the Middle Corridor being at the center of attention and registering a positive trend, since it attracts new goods volumes and also contributes to the increase in traffic recorded in the port of Constanța.
New lines to the port of Constanța were promoted, including the Poti – Constanta line, which opened in May 2022, and is becoming increasingly attractive for new container flows.
At the same time, the Serbian partners expressed interest in the implementation of the new Romania-Turkey Ro-Ro line, which is in the project phase.
In this way, new services can be created and offered to clients and partners from the hinterland, in this case – Serbia, who can then access new markets through the port of Constanța, it was pointed out.
– The port of Constanța is looking forward to the continuous improvement of its appeal through new projects, which are set to improve its role as the eastern gate of Europe – the port representative said.
The event was also attended by the Romanian Ambassador to Serbia, Silvia Davidoiu, who reminded of the good relations between the two countries and expressed pleasure with the fact that, following a two-year break, the partners gathered in Novi Sad, where they exchanged ideas, experiences, and proposals for more intensive cooperation face-to-face.
Ambassador Davidoiu previously met with representatives of the Maritime Port Authority, with whom she discussed the significance of the port of Constanța in the current context, and the evolution of trade between Romania and Serbia, with an emphasis on the joint efforts needed to improve shipping on the Danube.
The event participants were addressed by the representative of the Port Governance Agency of Serbia, Ksenija Hajduković, as well as the Acting Assistant Minister for Water Transport and Navigation Safety. He said “that the port of Constanța is of immense importance for the Serbian economy”, while also reminding that large infrastructure projects are underway in Serbia, which should spur the development of maritime transport.
– Serbia is in a big investment cycle, worth half a billion euros, to provide a better transport infrastructure for the economy of our country – reminded Veljko Kovačević.
The Constanța Port Day was another excellent opportunity to promote new partnerships, and after interesting presentations, the second part of the event was, as before, reserved for B2B meetings.
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