According to Russian Railways, the loading of export designated cargo destined for Russian ports made 293.4 mn tons in 2017 increasing 6.4% year-on-year.
Almost half of the total, 47% is coal. Oil accounts for 27%, ferrous metals for 9%, fertilizers for 7%, and grains for 3% of the entire loading volume.
The aggregate volume grew due to the increasing loading of coal (+10.6%), fertilizers (+11.8%), grains (+52.8%), paper (+7.2%), and timber and logs (+7.2%).
123.8 mn tons, 10.1% more than in 2016, was designated for the North-West sea ports. The South region ports accounted for 75.9 mn tons (+6%), and the ports of the Russian Far East for 93.3 mn tons (+2.6%).
In December 2017, loading volume designated for the North-West ports increased 6.3% to 11.9 mn tons, the volume designated for the South ports grew 7.8% to 6.9 mn tons. The rail cargo volume loaded for export via the RF Far Eastern ports did not changed from November and made 7.8 mn tons.