Russian Railways have reported a 15.4% year-on-year increase in rail container traffic during January-May 2019. All in all, 1.97 mn TEU was carried during the period under report.
Domestic volumes were up 10.3% year-on-year to 817.1 thousand TEU, export up 13.3% to 520.7 thousand TEU, and import up 26.7% to 414.4 thousand TEU. Transit grew by 21.1% up to 219.2 thousand TEU.
Laden container traffic amounted to 1.31 mn TEU, up 14.5% year-on-year.
Commodity-wise, containerized timber and woodwork grew the most, up 48.1% year-on-year to 209.9 thousand TEU. Construction cargo increased by 20% to 42.1 thousand TEU, LCL and ‘other’ commodities were up 25.1% to 40.7 thousand TEU.
Consumer goods were up 13.6% to 108.9 thousand TEU, vehicles up 10.8% to 96.4 thousand TEU, hardware up 12.5% to 111.7 thousand TEU, paper up 1.7% to 130.7 thousand TEU, chemicals and soda up 9.7% to 214.1 thousand TEU.
Containerized ferrous metals grew by 12.9% up to 54 thousand TEU, machinery, equipment and engines by 5.1% up to 84.9 thousand TEU, and non-ferrous metals by 3% up to 45.3 thousand TEU.
Chemical and mineral fertilizers declined by 21.1% down to 17.7 thousand TEU.
In May, overall containerized traffic in the Russian Railways’ network amounted to 402.1 thousand TEU, up 16.7% year-on-year and down 2.3% month-on-month.