The commodity volumes transiting Constanta are an accurate indicator of the state of Romania’s economy, since traffic highs progressed in line with the gross domestic product.
The increase in traffic depends on the economic growth pace in Eastern Europe and the infrastructure connecting Romania to the Central Europe.
“We can have 100-million ton traffic in the harbor. It all depends on the hinterland (the area behind the harbor i.e.),” says Valeriu Ionescu, manager of the Harbor Administration.
If traffic reached 100 million tons, Constanta would rival harbors in mature economies in Europe, such as Hamburg, Germany (130 million tons) or Marseille, France (90 million tons) but still be far from Rotterdam (450 million tons).
The type of commodities transiting the Constanta harbor has radically changed in the past twenty-five years, going from tractors, lathes and heavy machinery to raw materials. Grain, ore, oil, gas and oil products are now generating almost the entire traffic.
Constanta is working towards becoming the destination of choice for commodities on a 1,200-kilometer radius to the West. It is a destination for trucks, barges, and trains from Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Austria, Montenegro and Slovakia. The stake here is the cheap transportation on the Danube and access via the Black Sea to markets in the Middle East, Africa and South-East Asia.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)