The common task is to develop the economic sovereignty of the country
The international conference "Terminals-2024" was held on September 16 in Sochi. Metafrax Group acted as a partner of the event, the purpose of which was to build a direct and productive dialogue between chemical enterprises, ports and terminals, authorities, design institutes, EPC contractors, suppliers of equipment, technologies and solutions and logistics companies.
At the opening of the conference, Oleg Mamaev, Director for Commercial Affairs of Metafrax Chemicals JSC, addressed the participants. Alexander Kirevnin, Advisor to the company's Executive Director for Logistics, also took part in the event.
The meeting participants discussed a number of topical issues, including the modernization of existing and construction of new ports and terminals, synchronization of the development of port and railway infrastructure, prospects for export development, the possibility of increasing additional port infrastructure for the implementation of projects for the production of mineral fertilizers, the competitiveness of Russian sea terminals, state support measures, as well as social and environmental responsibility of terminal owners.
In a welcoming address to the conference participants, Oleg Mamaev, Director for Commercial Affairs of Metafrax Chemicals, noted that the business is experiencing significant difficulties with shipments in the export direction.
- Terminal problems are serious. Due to the "underutilization" of such raw materials as, for example, methanol, terminals cannot systematically build a development program, including an investment one, since there is no understanding how this business will develop, which areas will become priority, and which should be reserved. We are talking about the potential expansion of terminal capacities," Oleg Mamaev said.
According to the Director for Commercial Affairs of Metafrax, shipments in the export direction could be significantly more than they are this year.
- If we talk about the methanol industry, we have to admit a decrease in the utilization of production capacities, including due to logistical difficulties, – Oleg Mamaev stressed. – And this is also the reason for the very "underutilization of transshipment capacities". Reducing the priority of cargo leads to slowdowns along the route of such cargo as methanol, which ultimately leads to a decrease in the volume of transshipment.
The manager suggested that the expert community, based on the conference, develop a model of interaction that would bring together maximum opportunities and mechanisms to increase the efficiency of the industry. At the same time, in his opinion, the state in such tasks must necessarily be in the role of the customer.
- One of the main priorities of the state is the development of the economy. Especially acute in this situation is the issue of the production and sale of high-value products, with high added value, maintained within the country for the benefit of its development. The development of the country's economic sovereignty is the level of task setting that we are called upon to achieve by gathering industry experts and being able to generate solutions to the challenges of reality," Oleg Mamaev stressed.
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According to the organizer of the "Terminals-2024" conference, Energy Leader company, transshipment in Russian seaports in 2023 increased by 5% and amounted to almost 900 million tons. The main increase was due to an increase in shipments of grain, fertilizers, oil, and container cargo. By 2030, investments in the development of ports are estimated at 400 billion rubles, and capacities will grow by 16% to the current level and exceed 1.5 billion tons. In the investment structure, it is expected that 25% will be financed from the budget, and 75% by private investors.