Finland’s Port of HaminaKotka faces the loss of nearly 3m tonnes of annual fertiliser cargo after Russia imposed a higher rail freight tariff on cargo moving toward land border crossings with Finland, according to a Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service order registered by Russia’s Ministry of Justice.
The measure took effect on 1 July and puts at risk one of HaminaKotka’s largest cargo streams. Fertilisers accounted for 23% of the port’s total cargo volume in 2025.
Fertilog Group has said the tariff makes Russian mineral fertiliser imports by rail commercially unviable. The company’s lawyer, Panu Karhu, said shipments were expected to stop within one or two weeks. The fertiliser cargo has moved through Kotka’s Mussalo harbour for more than a decade.
HaminaKotka chief executive Eija Rossi said Fertilog informed the port on Wednesday morning that the flows were ending. She said the lost cargo would be impossible to replace quickly and that the port company would have to review its cost structure if the stoppage continued. Fertilog estimated that the end of the traffic could directly or indirectly put at least 50 jobs at risk.
The impact may also reach Finland’s farm supply chain. Max Schulman, grain officer at Finland’s Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners, said Russian fertilisers had previously accounted for about 10% to 15% of Finland’s total fertiliser imports. Mikko Salo, chief executive of Chemical Industry Federation of Finland, said the change was not expected to affect the business of the federation’s members based on its assessment.
The Russian order, dated 25 June and registered on 30 June, applies an additional 8.0 coefficient to rail freight tariffs. It also includes a separate 0.25 coefficient until 31 October for certain nickel matte shipments to Harjavalta on Finnish railways and for liquefied anhydrous ammonia moving toward Finnish border crossings.
Port of HaminaKotka Ltd is a Finnish port company handling containers, Ro-Ro, dry bulk, liquid bulk, gas and project cargo. Its January-May 2026 traffic was 5.29m tonnes, down 11.5% year on year, while transit traffic fell 23.1%.
Fertilog Group includes Fertilog Oy, which was established in 2010. The group operates mineral fertiliser transhipment facilities at HaminaKotka, with four warehouse complexes and annual capacity of more than 3m tonnes.
