Russian Railways continues to record growth in ore loading, decline in coal loading in Eastern Siberia in 9M

IRKUTSK. Oct 2 (Interfax) - Loading on the East Siberian Railway, a branch of OJSC Russian Railways, increased 2.1% year-on-year in September 2025 to 4.7 million tonnes, the railway's press service said.

A total of 43.3 million tonnes of cargo were accepted on the railway in 9M, down 0.7% YoY. It was previously reported that the decline in loading on the railway was 1% for 8M.

Shipment of bituminous coal decreased 2.6% in January-September to 21 million tonnes, timber cargo shipments were down 8.1% to 1.9 million tonnes, shipments of industrial raw materials fell 14.4% to 1.3 million tonnes, and construction cargo shipments declined 16.1% to 1.2 million tonnes.

At the same time, the figures for oil and petroleum products increased 9.3% to 7 million tonnes, for iron and manganese ore - 3% to 3.4 million tonnes and for chemical and mineral fertilizers - 7.6% to 196,000 tonnes. Shipments of non-ferrous ore and sulfur raw materials increased 1.7-fold to 331,000 tonnes.

Freight turnover on the East Siberian Railway increased 4% in January-September 2025 to 170 billion tariff tonne-kilometers. In September, freight turnover amounted to 19 billion tariff tonne-kilometers (+7.4% YoY).

The East Siberian Railway runs through the Irkutsk region, Buryatia, and partly through Trans-Baikal Territory and Yakutia.