MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/. The Northern Sea Route's ports, including Khatanga and Dudinka, need to be upgraded for bigger traffic to handle rare earth metals (RAM), Associate Professor at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Presidential Academy (RANEPA), the Expert Council's Coordinator at the PORA Arctic Development Project Office Alexander Vorotnikov told TASS.
"It is necessary to develop the ports of Khatanga and Dudinka, which are located on the Northern Sea Route," he said. "The ports have been outdated, it is necessary to create infrastructures, build new berthing walls, and do dredging. Otherwise, the ports will not be able to cope with the volumes."
It is necessary to increase building of ships, icebreakers, tugboats and tankers, he continued. "It is necessary to take into account possible supplies of REM concentrate for processing to China, and to mind the lack of processing facilities in Russia. This refers also to entering the American market of goods that use REM," he added.
Earlier, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said Russia is a global undisputed leader in REM reserves, adding in the rare earth metals industry the country would be happy to work with any foreign partners, including American ones.