Global agribusiness COFCO International has launched a new Danube River barge fleet in Romania.
Comprising four push boats and 29 barges, the new fleet would strengthen the company’s logistics network along the Danube and Black Sea by linking the company’s nine river and inland silos directly to its deep-sea port terminal in Constanta, COFCO said on 4 July.
Each barge could carry over 1,000 tonnes of grains such as corn, wheat and barley, the company said.
“The barges connect the COFCO river silos to Constanta terminal and they offer COFCO a more flexible transport of the goods,” said Irina Micu, barge fleet planner at COFCO International Romania.
The company said its investment responded to growing demand.
COFCO International currently moved over 2M tonnes/year of grain via barge from Central European origins to Constanta but in recent years, the company’s barge usage on the Danube had tripled, driven by the efficiency of river transport compared with trucks and rail, as well as regional infrastructure challenges that favoured waterborne logistics, it said.
Transporting goods by barge also helped reduce road congestion and contributed to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to other modes of transport, COFCO said, noting that one barge carrying grain could displace 40 rail wagons or 70 trucks.
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, COFCO International is the overseas agriculture business platform for China’s largest food and agriculture company, COFCO Corporation.
Active in global grains, oilseeds, sugar and cotton supply chains, the company has assets in 36 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific, and it trades with customers in more than 100 nations.
In 2024, COFCO International handled over 108M tonnes of related commodities with revenues of US$38.5bn.
