"From Nov. 1 to Nov. 14 the Novorossiisk Commercial Sea Port's NZT grain terminal (NZT) was unloading an average of 134 railcars instead of standard 200 per day, and it did not unload anything from Nov. 8 to Nov. 11 due the non-arrival of ships," a Russian Railways statement said.
"As a result the ports silos have accumulated around 100,000 tons of grains, which is in excess of the existing standards."
It added that 1,523 railcars with grain meant for Novorossiisk were standing idle, awaiting access to the port, including 220 at the Novorossiisk railway station.
The statement did not say if the other terminal experienced the same problems.
Russian Railways had to restrict grain shipments to Novorossiisk between the end of August and the middle of September due to congestion on rail lines as traders sought to bring this year's crop to international markets.
Russia, which has a capacity to export 28.9 million tonnes of grain per year, according to a government estimate, has only two ports capable of loading 50,000-tonne vessels -- Novorossiisk and Tuapse on the Black Sea.
Novorossiisk has capacity to export 10 million tonnes per year and Tuapse 2.4 million tonnes, a government note said. (Reuters)
