The German port of Duisburg becomes an alternative to the previous route via Odessa for Ukrainian cereals.
German-based Rhenus Port Logistics Rhein-Ruhr provided a port terminal and special equipment for grain cargoes from Ukraine at terminal 4 of the port of Duisburg, the company reported.
Previously, this maize (corn) was transported to its destinations via the port of Odessa.
Now the rail transport through Ukraine, Poland and Germany replaces this previous route.
Upon arrival in Duisburg, the maize is transferred directly from containers to inland waterway vessels. This process, achieved through close coordination between rail and shipping services, ensures swift transport of this vital cargo.
In the Ukrainian border town of Mostyska, cargo is transferred from cereal wagons to standard EU bulk containers.
At the Polish-Ukrainian border, the consignments are provided with special GPS tracking seals, which are then removed at the German-Polish border.
According to the managing director of Rhenus Port, Michael Petersmann, during the creation of the project, repeated checks on the transport operations have been required to see whether they are feasible and cost-effective.
Partners Rhenus and container logistics specialist Contargo analysed the entire supply chain for four months before launching the first transport operations.
“We’d be delighted to be able to continue the handling services in Duisburg in the long term as an alternative to the previous route via Odessa. Expanding the transport services to include other cereal products such as wheat, rapeseed, sugar beet pellets and soya beans would be completely realistic,” says Marcin Czachorowski, the managing director and project manager at Contargo Intermodal Poland.
