{"id":213049,"date":"2025-05-08T18:27:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T08:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=62248"},"modified":"2025-05-08T18:27:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T08:27:37","slug":"russian-loading-drops-further-8-6-in-april","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=213049","title":{"rendered":"Russian loading drops further: -8.6% in April"},"content":{"rendered":"

Loading on the Russian rail network has dropped once more. In April, a total of 92,9 million tonnes of freight was loaded onto trains. That is 8.6% lower than in the same month of 2024. Russian Railways (RZD) attributes the decline mostly to domestic economic conditions.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>\u201cThe main losses in volumes in January – April are connected to domestic Russian transportation of construction materials (-21.3%), hard coal (-6.4%), and also in the metallurgical transport segment: ferrous metals (-23.3%) and scrap metal (-25.5%) because of the reduction in demand from the side of branches of the economy that use the given products\u201d, writes RZD.<\/p>\n

When looking at 2025 as a whole until now, loading has dropped by 6.8% compared to the same period in 2024.<\/p>\n

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\"Freight<\/p>\n
Image: Shutterstock. \u00a9 VladSV<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By contrast, some freight categories have demonstrated growth in April 2025:<\/p>\n

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Non-ferrous metals:<\/div>\n
+14.7%<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Fish:<\/div>\n
+10.2%<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Fertilisers:<\/div>\n
+2.4%<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Metal ores:<\/div>\n
+2.3%<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Export to the east<\/h2>\n

\u201cIn the key eastern direction we note a positive export dynamic (+4.1%)\u201d, further elaborates RZD. The export growth is primarily driven by non-coal products (+7.5%). That includes metal ores (+22.3%), fertilisers (+64.1%) and high value-added freight (+12.1%).<\/p>\n

Russia is currently struggling with an unprecedented decline in loading on its rail network. In 2024<\/a>, loading declined by 4.1%. Subsequently, it dropped by 9.3% in February 2025, and continued its fall by 7.2% in March.<\/p>\n