Logistics

Dnipro Cargo Ltd

Dnipro Cargo was founded in November 1997 as a cargo transhipment company specialising in the export of grain crops. It co-operates closely with two other companies; forwarding and custom agents C-trans founded in July 1997 and a grain surveying, laboratory testing and verification company recognised by GAFTA and FOSFA. Grain cargoes for export require evaluation of their weight and quality, together with full certification and accurate customs documentation. The three companies provide a comprehensive service.

View of the gardens to the North of the port area.
View of the gardens to the North of the port area.

Two views of the gardens to the North of the port area.

Dnipro Cargo deals direct with clients and invoices for all three services used in the movement of grain. It has been profitable since commencing operations in 1999.

The company, with which ESV has a management contract, has several opportunities to advance further. Due to its quality of service and administrative skills, Dnipro Cargo enjoys an enviable reputation with international grain trading customers operating in Ukraine and has been able to maintain and raise its transhipment prices.

Dnipro Cargo’s major clients are principally multinational grain traders. They include:

  • CHS (USA-based)
  • Glencore Europe (Switzerland-based)
  • Soufflet Negoce SA (France-based)

The management contract, signed for ten years starting on 14 June 2006, has provided ESV with growing income for its first two years, being £156,316 in the year to 31 March 2008 rising to £548,732 in the year to 31 March 2009.

Kherson Port

An aerial view of Kherson port. An aerial view of Kherson port.

Dnipro Cargo is located at the port of Kherson where the Dnepr(Dneiper/Dnipro) river, the most important water highway in Ukraine, meets the Black Sea via an additional estuary of 40km. The river runs for 825 km from Kiev to Kherson, contains five locks and is navigable to a depth of 3.65 metres and a height under fixed bridges of 11 metres. At Kherson the Dnipro Cargo quay can handle boats up to 200 metres long and the seagoing draft is 7.6 metres.

The Black Sea is subject to increasing traffic and contains some 19 ports including the following grain-handling ports in addition to and located near Kherson:

  • Nikolaev, located on the southern Bug river, draught 10.3 metres
  • Skadovsk, located 82km south-east of Kherson, draught 5.3m
  • Odessa Commercial Seaport, draught 12.5 metres
  • Illichivsk Commercial Seaport, draught 11.8 metres in port.
  • Yuzhny Commercial Seaport, draught 14.5 metres

The sun sets on another day of activity at Kherson. The sun sets on another day of activity at Kherson.

Kherson port is state-owned and Dnipro Cargo is the only private company located in the port. Some 40% of the port’s total cargo handled is cereals. Cargoes transhipped include: wheat, corn (maize), barley, sunflower seed/meal, oil seed, soya bean, linseed and peas.

Dnipro Cargo has the use of two long-established warehouses, capacity 2,500 tonnes each, plus its own modern warehouse completed in August 1999 with a maximum capacity of 20,000 tonnes, totalling 25,000 tonnes. There is good security, to which CCTV cameras have recently been added.

Subject to agreement with the port authorities, the company’s plans to replace the two smaller warehouses with a further new one dedicated to grain handling with a capacity of 40,000 tonnes are well advanced, which will take the total storage capacity to some 60,000 tonnes.

The port is navigable all the year round; in winter, when the Dneiper freezes, vessels are led into the port by ice-breakers.

Kherson port from the North. Kherson port from the North.

At Kherson, the receipt of grain cargo is by rail cars, by road transported trucks and by river barges. The Ukrainian rail system is extensive, extends well into the farming regions and is subsidised by the State. In the past, Dnipro Cargo has had up to 70,000 tonnes a year of exports delivered by rail from Kazakhstan until a shortage of rail cars affected the trade. Additionally, the obsolescence of former river barges and their sale for scrap has reduced river-borne traffic on the Dneiper from 100 million tonnes a year 10 years ago to only 15 million today. Ukraine-generated grain exports delivered by rail now therefore comprise the majority of traffic handled.

The Dnipro Cargo quay at Kherson can handle cargo ships up to 200 metres long. Once loaded onto shipping, grain exports travel primarily to Middle Eastern, Israeli and western Mediterranean ports. These ports are close; for example, Alexandria is some 6 days sail from Kherson. These receiving ports cannot handle deep-sea ocean-going vessels with exports from the Americas or elsewhere.

View some typical grain arrivals and despatches here.

Ukraine is in a central position to supply many markets- and Kherson is well-placed to channel grain exports from all over the country.