Russian Railways says loading to fall by 5.8% in January yr/yr

MOSCOW, Jan 26 (PRIME) -- Russian Railways expects a 5.8% annual decline of loading in January, because of the end of transportation to Ukraine and the Baltic states, Deputy CEO Alexei Shilo said at a briefing on Thursday.

"We loaded 76 million tonnes of various cargo in January (in first 24 days). This translated into 3.163 million daily average loading. The decrease from the same period in January last year amounted to 5.8%... We expect that we will finish the month with the same result," Shilo said.

He said that last January Russian Railways carried 46,000 tonnes of cargo to Ukraine a day compared to none now.

Cargo transportation to the ports of the Baltic states slumped by 61% compared to January last year, or about 30,000 a day.

“Nevertheless, we see absolutely clearly that it will gradually soften further,” Shilo said.

“And we expect that already, probably, since March, we will have different dynamics compared to last year.”

Shilo expects a 4% loading decrease in February and a rise in March.

The company plans to reach the forecasted loading volume of 1.204 billion tonnes in 2023 and hopes to top the figure. The company plans to negotiate with China higher 2023 traffic in February, he said.

End