The port of Arkhangelsk is restoring cargo turnover due to timber industry

It is planned that by 2026 the cargo turnover of the port of Arkhangelsk will reach pre-sanction levels. This will become possible thanks to the development of cabotage flights - state-subsidized transportation along the Northern Sea Route (NSR). An increase in exports and imports from China is also expected.

In 2022, after the introduction of sanctions, Arkhangelsk’s cargo turnover decreased by 28.7% and amounted to 2.3 million tons, and in 2023 it decreased to 1.9 million tons. However, in 2024, the figures began to recover: in the first In the first half of the year, cargo turnover increased by 40.6% (compared to the same period in 2023) and amounted to 1.2 million tons.

At the beginning of August, a Chinese ship with various cargoes arrived at the port of Arkhangelsk. Now it is preparing to be sent in the opposite direction with the products of Arkhangelsk manufacturers: paper, cardboard, cellulose and lumber.

The new logistics route “Arctic Express No. 1” is designed to speed up and optimize cargo transportation between Russia and China. It connects the main ports of China located on the Northern Sea Route with Arkhangelsk. The route allows you to significantly reduce product delivery time.

Dmitry Yurkov, representative of the governor of the Arkhangelsk region for the development of the Arctic: “The eastern railway range is now overloaded. Transportation of goods along the Northern Sea Route from China, and in the future the organization of year-round navigation along this route will reduce the cost of delivery: it will compete with transportation by rail.".

Last year, the first direct flight from Arkhangelsk to Shanghai was sent along the NSR with lumber in containers. The Chinese carrier's plans for this year's navigation include making ten ship calls, which will ensure regularity of the export-import container line between Russia and China.

Also in 2023, the Government of the Russian Federation, as part of the work to modernize the Northern Sea Route, prepared a comprehensive plan for the development of the Arkhangelsk transport hub until 2035. The main event of this plan includes the construction of a new terminal in the seaport of Arkhangelsk, the capacity of which should be 25 million tons annually by 2040.