The Northern Railroad (NR, a branch of Russian Railways JSC) loaded at its facilities in January 2010 some 4.7 million tons of commodities, a13.7% growth as compared to January 2009, the NR statement said.

According to the company’s data several categories of commodities contributed to the overall January gain, such as 748.000 tons of coal, a 33.8% growth, 768.000 tons of timber cargo (+12.9%), 778.000 tons of ferrous metals (+26.1%) , 317.000 tons of chemical fertilizers, a 68.6% surge, 132.000 tons of paper (+61%), 81.000 tons of chemicals (19.1%).

The volume of handled petroleum products was reportedly at 1.184.000 tons, 12.2 percent lower than in January 2009. Construction materials shipment also showed a 1.2 percent decline, 217.000 tons. The company handled 36.000 tons of scrap metal and 9.000 tons cement.

The Northern Railroad area is an axis of Ukhta-Yaroslavl-Kirishi and Surgut-Yaroslavl-Polotsk trunk pipelines network.