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Transport is one of the cornerstones for successful development of the forest sector. By the end of 2003, the forest sector was funding the upkeep of truckaccessible forest roads of the total length 6,985 km.
In domestic transport, the transport of wood is the second biggest cargo group, accounting for 27.5 % of the entire cargo carriage in 2004, which is by 5.6 % higher than in the previous year. In 2004, the carriage of timber cargos for export was 0.382 million t, which accounts for 22.5% of the total export cargo carriage.
The import cargo carriage has also increased rapidly, in 2004 reaching 0.098 million t, or 7.6% of the total import cargo carriage. The ports play an essential role in the timber and wood products transport. For Latvian ports, timber is the third major cargo group after the oil products and coal. In Latvia 10 ports are functioning. Three biggest - Riga, Ventspils, and Liepaja, are dealing mainly with transit cargos. Seven small ports are reloading local cargos and are used for timber shipments. In 2004, 6.4 million t (11.6% of the total) of timber were shipped from the ports of Latvia, of which 0.8 million t were from the small ports, accounting for 76% of the cargos shipped from this category of ports.
The rail transport, too, plays a substantial role in timber and wood products transport. In 2004, compared to 2003, the cargo carriage by rail increased from 1.19 million to 1.56 million t, or 3% of the total cargo carriage.
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In future formation of new “Silk route” including Latvia is planned. Organizers of unit cargo caravan project “Peking – Brussels” are convinced that in the nearest future new motor transport “Silk route” will be formed which will also include Latvia.
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