Container freight shipments in Ukraine in Jan-May 2024 reach maximum over past 7 years - Ukrainian Railways

MOSCOW. June 14 (Interfax) - Container freight shipments in Ukraine in January-May 2024 reached their maximum over the past seven years, Ukrainian media have reported with reference to an analytical memorandum prepared by the national railway company Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia, UZ) for a conference on intermodal transportation.

"The volume of container freight shipments grew in the first five months of 2024 by 60% y-o-y to 116,129 TEU [twenty-foot equivalent units]. The figure is the highest over the past seven years and exceeds the volume of shipments in the same period in 2021 by 10%," it said.

Transit accounted for about 16% of all container shipments in 2021, while now such shipments are virtually absent, it said.

The principal goods shipped in containers included grain (39%), ferrous metals (15%), pomace (7%), oil (6%), synthetic resin (4%), sugar (3%), and chemicals (2%).

About 25% of freight shipped in containers in said period was imported, 61% exported, and 14% transported domestically.

Since March 2023, UZ has offered users a new intermodal service integrating shipments by container trains, piggyback trains, and combined transport trains.

As of June 12, 2024, UZ provided 412 intermodal train services, including 72 headed toward Polish and Romanian ports and 340 toward Ukrainian ports.