The ripple effect

Helsinki remains relatively unscathed

Although the Port of Helsinki does handle some Russian transit traffic, its exposure to that market is nowhere near that of Kotka’s.

“Because our share of transit cargo is not so high, the direct impact of the economic downturn here is quite small,” says Kimmo Mäki, chief executive of the Port of Helsinki. “However, the overall development of the Russian economy has had some influence on the Finnish economy. So, from that perspective, there has been some influence.

“On the other hand, cargo volumes at Helsinki have been increasing for almost two years and we are also seeing growth of 3% in 2015 compared to last year,” says Mr Mäki.

While the city of Helsinki does generate trailer traffic to and from Russia, Mr Mäki says that, today, the vast majority of seaborne trailer traffic tends to be handled by Russia’s own ports, with Helsinki handling just a small percentage. Furthermore, Russian imports are performing less well than exports, given the weakness of the rouble.

In contrast to Kotka, box traffic at Helsinki is rising, growing by 2% so far this year. “That is not to say that the economic downturn and sanctions have not impacted on traffic at Helsinki; they have, but that impact has not been that great,” says Mr Mäki. “In fact, for this year, we are forecasting traffic to continue growing, although only by a few percent.”