In the first nine months of 2019, the Group recorded net sales of EUR 170m (+3% YoY) and throughput of 17.7m (+0.4% YoY).

Luka Koper published a document on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange regarding their throughput and revenues in the first nine months of 2019. According to the report, the company recorded EUR 170m of net sales, representing a 3% increase YoY. Meanwhile, the port throughput in the same period observed a slight increase of 0.4% YoY, amounting to 17.7m tons (+78 thousand tons YoY).

The largest increase was registered in the liquid-cargo commodity group (+19% YoY). Car throughput showed a slight increase compared to the results registered in the first half of 2019, however, is still 9% lower compared to the same period in 2018. The lower throughput could be attributed mostly to the global slowdown of sales of new cars. The company notes that Car exports to Turkey are still 40% below last year’s figure whereas the importing of cars manufactured in Turkey increased. Car exports to the Far East increased as well over the last months, which contributed to reducing the gap between this year’s and last year’s throughput. 

The situation in the car industry generally influences the throughput in other groups of commodities. The Group further states that European car manufacturers adapted their production lines in response to a reduction in sales, and related sheet-metal imports decreased as a result. The manufacture of steel products in Europe also decreased, which has been reflected in lower exports of these types of products. This trend has also exerted a negative impact on the throughput of raw material applied in the steel industry, which is reflected in the general cargo (-14% YoY) and dry bulk (-5% YoY) segment. 

This fall in the production of cars also partly influences the container segment (which recorded a 2% YoY increase) considering that the car-manufacturing units situated in Central European countries are supplied via Koper.

When observing the containers segment, the Group states that they are confronted at the moment with cheaper ocean freight rates across Northern European ports. Despite this fact, they do not expect major fluctuations. Koper is solidly in the top position among the container terminals in the Northern Adriatic, despite increasing competition among nearby ports.

The cargo throughput by segment can be observed in the table below: