Russian Railways says this year has seen a steady growth in the volume of export shipments from Russian ports.
Loading volumes destined for Russia’s ports in the 9 months to the end of September 2017 increased by 5.9% compared to the same period in 2016 and amounted to 215.9 million tons.
The increase was mainly due to greater loading volumes of coal, which was up by 10.6%, fertilisers, up 10.4%, grain, up 46.7%, oil cargo, up 0.1%, paper, up 5.6% and coke, up by 62%.
On the export side, coal increased by 48%, oil by 27%, ferrous metals by 8%, fertilisers by 7%, and grain by 2%.
Loading of export cargoes for the ports of Russia’s North-West amounted to 89.7 million tons, an increase of 8.3% compared to the figure in 2016, while 56.3 million tons of freight were shipped to
Russia’s southern ports, an increase of 7.6%. Loading volumes shipped to the ports in Russia’s Far East amounted to 69.6 million tons, a rise of 2.1%.
Russian Railways has been increasing the efficiency of transportation and shipments to enable it to handle the increasing volumes of freight traffic.
The network of Russian Railways uses shipment management technologies at specific operating territories and areas to manage transportation, traction resources and infrastructure.
The Company is also introducing customer services, including freight transportation by timetable and the “Freight Express” service.
Together with the stevedoring companies, Russian Railways is also implementing measures to optimise operations over the “last mile,” in particular with regard to freight unloading.