A train loaded with 198 cars of the Jaguar Land Rover manufacturer (JLR) has arrived at the Koper’s Car & RO-RO terminal, which marks an important step in cooperation between Luka Koper and JLR. JLR has been shipping cars through Koper since 2017, when they stared cooperating with their partner production plant in Graz, Austria.
Since the opening of their own production plant in Nitra, Slovakia in October 2018, the oversea export volumes have been growing. In addition to regular truck shipments, the cars will be arriving now from Nitra also by train. JLR has chosen the logistic route via Port of Koper because of good experience related to high-end car handling and the vast network of car-carrier services to the Mediterranean and Asia.
The volumes are mostly exported to China with the weekly MOL service, while the Mediterranean – mostly Greece, Egypt, Israel, Turkey and Cyprus – is served by many weekly Intra-Med services calling Koper.
Th throughput of cars has reached 162.722 units in the first three months of 2020, a 4 percent decrease compared to the first quarter of 2019. However, the investment activities are in full swing, as two major investments have been completed in recent months:
The new dedicated terminal rail access and the new RO-RO berth, while the construction of the additional garage for 6.000 units is proceeding on plan. According to the ranking published every year by Automotive Logistics – Finished Vehicle Logistics, Koper gained two places in 2019 as the seventh largest automotive port in Europe and third in the Mediterranean.
