During January-May 2018, Russian Railways loaded 46.8 mn tons of cargo, up 3.7% year-on-year.
Coal loading grew 5% up to 156.8 mn tons. Ferrous and manganese ore was up 3,7% to 46,8 mn tons, ferrous metals up 11% to 33 mn tons, chemical and mineral fertilizers up 6,3% to 25,3 mn tons, timber and logs up 2,6% to 19,6 mn tons.
Grain loading amounted to 12,3 mn tons surging 51,8% year-on-year. Chemicals and soda volume grew 2,4% to 11,3 mn tons.
Other cargo categories loading volumes declined. Thus, oil and products, Russian Railways’ second most important cargo in terms of tonnage, were down 0.2% to 98.8 mn tons.
Construction cargo was slightly down 1.4% to 51.9 mn tons, industrial and forming materials down 1.2% to 14.4 mn tons.
Non-ferrous ore and raw sulfur decreased 3.2% to 8.2 mn tons, and ferrous metals scrap declined 4.5% to 5.3 mn tons.
Cement loading was down 4.1% to 9.2 mn tons, and coke down 3.9% to 4.5 mn tons.
In May, Russian Railways loaded 110.3 mn tons of cargo, up 3.6% compared to May 2017 and 1.3% above the April 2018 result.