Container terminals in Novorossiysk

Novorossiysk is the largest port in Russia in terms of total cargo turnover. By the end of 2025, about 168 million tons passed through it, accounting for about 19% of the total Russian cargo flow. Among the container hubs of the country, the city ranks third: it accounts for 1,111 thousand TEU against 1,470 thousand in Vladivostok and 1,400 thousand in St. Petersburg. Almost the entire container flow is divided between two terminals — NUTEP of the Delo group and NLE as part of the NMTP holding. We have an office in Novorossiysk, so we check the choice between these sites with the client before booking the line, not after the ship's arrival. Below are the capacities, reconstructions and our approach to ship calls.

Novorossiysk on the map of Russian container ports

The container turnover of Russian seaports in 2025 amounted to 5,342 thousand TEU, which is 4.4% less than a year earlier. Against the backdrop of a decline across the country, Novorossiysk's container turnover grew by 4.3%, while in Vladivostok it decreased by 10.6%, and in the Greater St. Petersburg port it increased by 1.9%. 1,111 thousand TEU through one port is 20.8% of the country's total container transshipment. This indicator cannot be directly compared with the tonnage share of the port of about 19%: in one case, tons of total cargo turnover are counted, in the other — only containers.

The market structure is important. St. Petersburg and Vladivostok distribute the container flow differently than the Black Sea hub. But for goods going through the Black Sea or along the North-South International Transport Corridor to Iran and India, there is no alternative to Novorossiysk: neither Tuapse nor Taman offer comparable совокупной capacity.

Two operators distribute the flow unevenly. In 2025, NUTEP transshipped 624.3 thousand TEU and accounted for about 56% of the local container flow. NLE provided 467.1 thousand TEU and about 42%. Together, NUTEP and NLE form about 98% of the city's container turnover. We carry through both terminals and will show below how they differ in practice.

NUTEP, Russia's second largest terminal by volume

The Novorossiysk nodal transport and operating enterprise (NUTEP) was founded in 1994. In 2002, NUTEP joined the Delo group of Sergei Shishkarev. Today, the terminal is part of DeloPorts, a co-owner of which is Rosatom. The terminal itself was rebuilt from scratch in 2002–2004: the old berths were not modernized, but a new complex was built from scratch.

In the ranking of operators of container terminals in Russia for 2025, NUTEP took second place with a result of 624.3 thousand TEU. Only the Vladivostok Commercial Sea Port (FESCO) with a volume of 805.8 thousand TEU is higher. The Container Terminal of St. Petersburg (CTSP) with 556.8 thousand TEU is lower. NUTEP's share in the total container turnover of the country is about 12%. The terminal remains the largest in terms of volume in the Azov-Black Sea basin.

NUTEP is growing against the backdrop of a decline in the all-Russian container market: its volume increased by 1.9% with a decrease across the country by 4.4%. Novorossiysk's container turnover grew even more — by 4.3%. In May 2025, NUTEP set a monthly record of 77.3 thousand TEU. The annual result was 624.3 thousand TEU, that is, it was not considered a simple extrapolation of the peak month. In the first half of 2026, transshipment amounted to 348 thousand TEU — 3.8% lower than last year. The market of the Azov-Black Sea basin also reduced volumes, and NUTEP retained first place in the basin and second in the country.

NUTEP berths, cranes and railways

The terminal operates with four berths: two container (No. 38 and No. 39) and two for ro-ro cargo. Berth No. 38 is deep-water: length about 390 m, depth at the wall 15.00 m, permissible draft 14.70 m. It accepts post-panamax class vessels carrying 10,000–14,000 TEU. Berth No. 39 has less depth — from 10.5 to 12.2 m with a length of 397 m. It accepts panamax and sub-panamax class vessels. The auxiliary berth No. 39A, 211.5 m long and 9.4 m deep, is used for auxiliary operations.

The reloading equipment includes STS portal cranes and RTG gantry cranes. The electronic terminal management system tracks the location of each container in real time. The terminal can be accessed directly from the federal highway M-4 Don, without entering the port area. The railway infrastructure includes 6 receiving and dispatching tracks: trains can be formed with one consignment note without re-formation at intermediate stations. There are 2 more additional tracks. In the comparison below, we take into account only six receiving and dispatching tracks — containers are exported through them. For exporters working with China through this port, this scheme reduces delivery time by 1–2 days compared to regular сборных trains.

More than 15 billion rubles have been invested in the development of the terminal in total. This amount includes construction from scratch in 2002–2004 and all subsequent expansion.

Reconstruction of berth No. 38 and growth to 1 million TEU

In August 2024, DeloPorts began the reconstruction of berth No. 38. Cargo turnover does not stop: ships continue to call. It is planned to complete the work by the end of 2027.

The reconstruction will increase the length of the berth from 390 to 600 meters, that is, by one and a half times. The capacity of the warehouse container area at the berth will increase from 3,080 to 4,830 TEU of one-time storage, and the area of the warehouse — from 4 to 6.4 hectares. As a result, the capacity of the entire NUTEP will rise from 700 thousand to 1 million TEU per year — an increase of 43%.

The project passed the Glavgosexpertiza on December 13, 2023. The tender for the selection of the contractor was announced in April 2024, the contract price was 7 billion rubles. When berth No. 38 was commissioned in 2019 for $125 million, the capacity of NUTEP doubled — from ~350 to 700 thousand TEU. Now the project provides for an increase of 43%, not a doubling.

After 2027, NUTEP will be able to receive large ocean-going vessels at the extended front and process more vessels simultaneously. For lines on the China — Black Sea routes, this is important. A long berth front allows two large vessels to stand side by side without queuing in the roadstead.

NLE, the fourth terminal in the country with an increase of 11.8%

JSC Novorossiylesexport (NLE) was founded in 1956 as a specialized forest port. The container terminal opened in 1999 — 43 years after the company was established. This was an attempt to diversify the port's operations. Forest exports gradually declined, while container shipments grew. Today, containers account for a large share of transshipment, although general cargo is still handled.

By the end of 2025, NLE transshipped 467.1 thousand TEU, 11.8% more than a year earlier. This is the fourth place among the operators of container terminals in Russia and about 9% of the total container turnover of the country. NLE is growing faster than NUTEP. If general cargo goes together with containers, we take this into account separately when choosing a terminal.

Bay, Panamax and 19 railway tracks of NLE

The terminal is located in the northeastern part of Novorossiysk Bay, in its protected area. Breakwaters reduce the impact of the north-east — bora, which periodically stops the work of open berths. NLE operates all year round without seasonal перерывов. For the terminal, this is an advantage over berths with open water area.

The total area exceeds 60 hectares, the water area occupies 12 hectares. The terminal has 11 berths with a total length of more than 1,600 m. The container terminal occupies 16.77 hectares. The railway infrastructure includes 19 tracks — three times more than NUTEP. For cargo owners who export containers by rail, this means less time waiting for wagons under accumulation.

The container terminal accepts Panamax class vessels with a capacity of up to 4,500 TEU. The depth at berths No. 29 and No. 30 is 14.5 m, at berths No. 28A and No. 28 — 13.6 m. This is less than at berth No. 38 of NUTEP (15 m), but sufficient for the vast majority of vessels serving the Black Sea.ships of the post-panamax class with a capacity of 10,000 TEU or more do not call here, but there are only a few of them in the black sea basin.

expansion of nle to 500 thousand TEU

the reconstruction of the forest pier terminals (No. 28A, 28, 29, 30) should increase the capacity of the container terminal to 500 thousand TEU per year. now the terminal has already handled 467.1 thousand TEU and is close to this limit. the project changes three parameters at once.

first, the terminals of the forest pier will be extended by 50 meters. after that, they will be able to handle vessels with a capacity of up to 7,000 TEU instead of the current 4,500 TEU. the depths will be maintained: No. 28A and No. 28 already have 13.6 meters after dredging, and No. 29 and No. 30 have 14.5 meters, which are maintained by restorative dredging. the third stage is the expansion of warehouse areas, which should increase cargo turnover by about 30%.

nle announced its intention to add another 300 thousand TEU of capacity to the first stage. additional capacity beyond the target 500 thousand will bring the total figure to about 800 thousand TEU. there are no specific deadlines for the second stage yet, so in our plans until 2028, we take into account only the first stage — reaching 500 thousand TEU.

nmtp as a stevedoring holding. oil, grain and containers

public joint-stock company novorossiysk commercial sea port (nmtp) is not a separate container terminal next to nutep and nle, but a stevedoring group with assets in novorossiysk, primorsk and baltiysk. the largest shareholder is transneft. the state owns 20% of the shares. the holding manages nle as a subsidiary.

nmtp's total cargo turnover in 2025 amounted to 65 million tons (+5.1%). novorossiysk port itself, taking into account operators outside nmtp and without other holding assets, handled 168 million tons (+1.9%). the difference is explained by the fact that operators outside nmtp, grain terminals, nutep and fuel facilities operate in novorossiysk.

in the structure of novorossiysk port, liquid cargo accounted for 122 million tons (+11%), dry cargo — 45.5 million tons (−16%). the oil sector still sets the tone for the city, while nle's container flow is growing separately from the налив. nmtp's container sector in novorossiysk is primarily nle. there are no other specialized container terminals of the holding here.

comparative table of two terminals

the nmtp column is needed for the context of the holding. for containers, it makes sense to compare nutep and nle; for a pure comparison of terminals, the first two columns are sufficient.

who this analysis does not suit

if it's about a private shipment or a one-time party without regularFor import, capacity tables and reconstruction plans are almost unnecessary. It is enough to check which terminal your line docks at and coordinate the release with the broker. The rest is for those who plan regular calls, compare rail and road transportation, or choose a port for a contract a year in advance.

We do not handle grey cargo or understated schemes. The customs representative license implies joint responsibility for the declaration, and we do not take responsibility for someone else's savings on duties. From now on, it's only the white channel.

How we choose a terminal for your cargo

The choice between NUTEP and NLE depends on the type of ship call, customs post, service of a specific line, and the rate of in-port forwarding for your batch. There are no public forwarding rates that can be relied upon in advance, so we calculate each case separately.

Most large container lines operating on the Black Sea fix their call at Novorossiysk at NUTEP. Berth No. 38 with a depth of 15 meters accepts post-panamax vessels from Far Eastern routes via Suez. NLE is limited to Panamax class vessels: now up to 4,500 TEU, after reconstruction — up to 7,000 TEU. This narrows the list of lines relative to NUTEP, but does not exclude large operators of the Black Sea basin.

For rail transportation, NLE's infrastructure looks preferable: it has 19 tracks against 6 at NUTEP. At peak volumes, this reduces waiting time and speeds up platform turnover. For road transportation, NUTEP is more convenient due to direct access to the M-4 Don highway, without navigating the port area.

The terminals have different customs posts: the Southeastern is assigned to NUTEP, and the Western to NLE. For some cargo owners, a specific post is important due to established relations with inspectors, established practices for declarations, or specifics of commodity codes. In practice, our brokers work at both posts, so this factor rarely becomes decisive if the documents are collected in advance.

Refrigerated cargo requires a separate calculation. There is a cold storage warehouse near NLE, so the reefer container can be delivered to the warehouse without a genset (autonomous refrigeration unit). For perishable products, this reduces risks and costs. If you are carrying reefer cargo, we first look at NLE and the cold chain, and then compare the lines.

Practical conclusions for the cargo owner

If your cargo goes through large sea lines on long-haul routes (China, Southeast Asia, Persian Gulf), the vessel is likely to call at NUTEP. There are more lines, deeper berth, and higher service frequency. The terminal completed 2025 with an indicator of 624.3 thousand TEU and is preparing to increase capacity to a million by the end of 2027.

If the cargo moves along feeder routes of the Black and Mediterranean Seas or паромным lines, NLE is comparable to NUTEP in reliability, but wins over open berths due to the protected water area. With rail transportation, 19 tracks give it an additional advantage. The growth rate of NLE in 2025 (+11.8%) is higher than that of NUTEP, and the terminal is already close to the limit of the first stage of 500 thousand TEU.

In 2026–2027, the key event will be the completion of the NUTEP reconstruction by the end of 2027. After its completion, the total capacity of the two terminals will reach approximately 1.5 million TEU per year (1 million at NUTEP plus about 500 at NLE). If NLE implements the second stage and brings the capacity to about 800 thousand TEU, the city will approach 1.7–1.8 million. There is no exact date for the second stage. NUTEP's result for the first half of 2026 (−3.8%) shows that the volume depends on the market of the basin, not just on the capacity of the berth.

Direct calls by MSC, CMA CGM, and Maersk after 2022 have almost come to naught. Their place was taken by other operators, including Asian ones. We check the specific ship call according to the line schedule for your batch. The volume benchmark is the result of 2025: 624.3 thousand TEU at NUTEP and 467.1 thousand TEU at NLE.

If you are choosing a terminal for a contract or the first batch through Novorossiysk, please send us the FEA code, delivery terms, and preferred method of transportation — road or rail. We will check which site is most likely to get a place for your batch now and calculate the cost of customs clearance in advance. Transportation and customs clearance are among our main areas, and the office in Novorossiysk allowsto accompany the cargo on site.