Achema Group: working to create a regional transport hub

PART OF the Achema group of companies, KLASCO, located at Klaipeda port, is Lithuania’s leading transshipment and multimode transportation company

In the second half of 2001, Achema Group was founded in Jonava, Lithuania. The group consists of more than 30 production and service divisions with a combined yearly turnover exceeding US$200 million. The largest divisions in the group are stock companies Klaipeda Stevedoring Company (KLASCO) and Achema.
KLASCO, located at Lithuania's Klaipeda port, is the country's leading transshipment and multimode transportation company. Operating under ISO 9001 standards, KLASCO handles over eight million tons of different cargoes yearly, including steel, fertilizer, cotton, timber, grain, frozen products and sugar. The company has 20 quays with a total area of 9,871,000 ft2 and a quay depth of up to 45.93 ft, sufficient to allow passage for vessels with an 80,000 tonnage.

KLASCO owns four terminals: general cargo, Ro-Ro, container, and fertilizer. For cargo storage, the company has ten modern warehouses with a total area of 645,800 ft2, two refrigerated warehouses with a total area of 129,200 ft2 and a freezing capacity of -25ºC. President of KLASCO and Achema Bronislovas Lubys, states, "Klaipeda port can easily compete with other European ports with regard to technical and organizational aspects. However, the loading traditions from Finland to Russia that were established during Soviet times still exist, and although today Lithuania and Klaipeda can provide the same level of services and actually offer a shorter route to destination ports, I think it will take some time before Western cargo owners realize that it is possible to load here in Klaipeda or in other Baltic ports, as well as in Finland."

BRONISLOVAS LUBYS President of KLASCO and Achema

Achema is the largest nitrogen fertilizer and chemical producer in the Baltic states. As well as nitrogen and complex fertilizers, Achema also produces methanol, formalin, UFR, PVAD, technical gases, aluminum sulphate solution, as well as other chemical products, all according to ISO 9002 and 14001 standards. The company's annual sales exceed 3.937 million ft, which includes 1,969,000 ft of UAN, 1,476,000 ft of AN, and between 164,000 to 196,900 ft of urea. Around 85% of the company's production is exported to western Europe, including France, Germany, the U.K., Benelux, and the Scandinavian countries. Achema also has sales offices in France, Scandinavia, and Poland and makes spot sales to the U.S. when conditions permit.
Regarding current investment opportunities in Lithuania, Dr. Lubys recommends the logistics sector. "Lithuania needs two or three large logistics centers and we are looking for partners now, perhaps to begin building next year. This would be a smart investment move as the necessary Lithuanian capital support would be provided here."