Minister Uraloğlu: ‘The amount of cargo handled at our ports increased by 4.6% compared to the first 5 months of last year, and the container amount also increased by 13%’

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu stated, ‘The amount of cargo handled in our ports increased by 4.6% compared to the first 5 months of last year, and the container amount also increased by 13%’.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that in the January-May period of 2024, the amount of cargo handled in ports increased by 4.6% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 225,464,363 tons, and the amount of containers handled increased by 13% to 5,644,097 TEUs. Minister Uraloğlu disclosed the maritime statistics prepared by the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs for the January-May period. He noted that they are working tirelessly to make Turkey more influential in maritime affairs, and the results of these efforts are reflected in maritime trade.
Minister Uraloğlu stated that in May 2024, the amount of cargo handled in ports was 45,988,445 tons. Uraloğlu mentioned that the total amount of cargo handled in ports during the January-May period reached 225,464,363 tons, saying, ‘In May, the amount of cargo departing from our ports to foreign ports reached the highest figure of the year, with an increase of 15.8% compared to the same month of the previous year, totaling 13,064,494 tons. The amount of cargo coming from foreign ports to our ports decreased by 10.7% compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching 21,653,465 tons. In May, international cargo transport decreased by 2.2% compared to the same month of the previous year, totaling 34,717,959 tons’.
‘Most of the cargo was handled in Aliağa’
Minister Uraloğlu noted that the transit cargo transported by sea in ports in May was 5,524,847 tons. He mentioned that the amount of cargo transported in cabotage in May was 5,745,639 tons, stating, ‘The highest cargo handling was realized with 7,767,170 tons of cargo at the port facilities operating within the administrative boundaries of Aliağa Regional Port Authority. Aliağa Regional Port Authority is followed by Kocaeli Regional Port Authority with 7,505,471 tons and İskenderun Regional Port Authority with 5,590,859 tons’.
‘The highest increase in transported cargo was in scrap iron’
Uraloğlu stated that the highest increase in terms of cargo types transported in May was in the handling of scrap iron, with 1,835,933 tons of scrap iron cargo handled in ports. He mentioned that this was followed by crude oil and feldspar cargoes, saying, ‘In May, Portland cement was the most transported cargo from our ports to foreign countries by ships, with 1,073,823 tons. Portland cement was followed by fuel oil and diesel. Crude oil ranked first among the cargoes transported on ships coming from abroad to our ports. This was followed by scrap iron and non-briquetted coal’.
‘Italy received the most cargo’
Uraloğlu stated that in May, the highest cargo transportation to foreign countries by sea from our ports was to Italy, followed by the United States and Spain. Uraloğlu pointed out that the most cargo to our ports by sea came from Russia, saying, ‘In May, 6.7% of the 34,717,959 tons of foreign cargo handled in our ports was carried by Turkish-flagged vessels. The amount of foreign cargo carried by Turkish-flagged vessels in May was 2,309,446 tons, a decrease of 10.5% compared to the same month of the previous year. The amount of foreign cargo carried by foreign-flagged vessels was 32,408,513 tons, a decrease of 1.6% compared to the same month of the previous year’.
Uraloğlu emphasized that the amount of containers handled in ports in May increased by 3.4% compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching 1,161,725 TEUs, and stated that the total amount of containers handled in ports in the January-May period also reached 5,644,097 TEUs.