Russian Railways have reported a 13% year-on-year increase in rail container traffic during January-March 2020. All in all, 1.3 mn TEU was carried during the period under report.
Laden container traffic made 858.5 thousand TEU, up 12.5% year-on-year.
Commodity-wise, containerized non-ferrous ore and raw sulphur grew the most, up 62% to 2.2 thousand TEU. Fruit, vegetables and potatoes were up 47.1% to 1.8 thousand TEU, salt up 44.4% to 0.3 thousand TEU, chemicals and soda were up 34.4% to 168 thousand TEU.
Timber and woodwork transportation increased by 3.8% year-on-year up to 120.8 thousand TEU, paper by 9.8% to 9.3 thousand TEU, consumer goods by 4% up to 70.5 thousand TEU, vehicles and parts by 2.7% up to 57.3 thousand TEU, machinery, equipment and engines by 15.7% up to 57 thousand TEU.
Ferrous metals grew by 35% up to 42.5 thousand TEU, non-ferrous metals by 20% up to 31 thousand TEU, oil and products by 15% up to 22.6 thousand TEU, and metal structures by 6% up to 3.2 thousand TEU.
Chemical and mineral fertilizers declined by 17.1% down to 9 thousand TEU, and hardware by 2.4% down to 64.1 thousand TEU.
In March, laden container traffic in the Russian Railways’ network amounted to 297 thousand TEU, up 5.3% year-on-year and up 5.1% month-on-month.