Pandemic blow softer on Piraeus Port Authority
From the Mediterranean to the Baltic, Belt-and-Road-Initiative (BRI) projects are gradually getting back on track, despite challenges related to worldwide travel restrictions and production stoppage.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in Europe in early spring, Chinese companies have been trying their best to minimize the damage to their businesses and implement their projects.
Greece’s Piraeus Port, Europe’s fourth-largest port that is run by China’s Cosco Shipping, marked an increase of 17.8% in container terminal revenues, while ship repair revenues rose by 21.8% in the first half of 2020.
This way, the company managed to counterbalance the tremendous reduction of revenues from cruise ships and coastal shipping, and marked just a 5.8% decrease in turnover in this period.
In August the volume of container handling dropped just by 3%, much lower than the 10% at US and European ports, showing that the Piraeus Port Authority is weathering the coronavirus pandemic quite well, for the time being. [Xinhua]
