Russian rail loading down 1.6% in August - source
MOSCOW. Sept 1 (Interfax) - Average daily rail loading in Russia was 3.4136 million tonnes in August, a source familiar with Russian Railways (RZD) operations told Interfax
Total rail loading in the month was 105.8 million tonnes, down from 107.5 million tonnes in August 2013. In other words, rail loading in the month declined 1.56% year-on-year.
On Monday, RZD confirmed August loading at 105.8 million tonnes. The company added that loading in August 2014 was 1.5% lower than in the same month of last year. Errors may arise for calculations based on average daily loading data, which the company does not disclose.
Loading fell 1.4% in January-August to 808.4 million tonnes.
Freight turnover increased 4% in August to 191.4 billion tonne-kilometers. Including empty miles, freight turnover was up 4.3% at 245.4 billion tonne-kilometers. In January-August, this figure was up 5.5% at 1.514 trillion tonne-kilometers and 6.1% including empty miles at 1.951 trillion tonne-kilometers.
RZD's plans include average monthly loading of 3.44 million tonnes for September 2014, which is 1.4% less than in the same period of last year, a source said.
Rail loading declined 3.4% in July 2014, 2.8% in June and 2.2% in May. RZD Vice President Salman Babayev said previously that loading for the full year would drop 1%-1.8%. Initial forecasts said loading would rise about 1% this year.