Russia ups freight car output 13.3% in 2012
MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax) - Russia increased freight car production by 13.3% to 71,200 cars in 2012, reaching a record high, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) reported.
Meanwhile, output was down in December - Russian machine-builders produced 5,100 freight cars, down 2.1% year-on-year and 11.3% month-on-month.
The Railway Car Builder Association, established by Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) and other major railcar producers, previously asked Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to support demand for its product in 2013 by prohibiting the extension of freight car service life "beyond that established by producers." By the middle of December, orders for freight cars did not top 30,000, even though Russia's factories are capable of producing 80,000 a year.
According to experts, this measure will not protect Russian railcar builders from a dip in production in 2013. Olga Lukyanova, head of the Non-Commercial Partnership of Railway Rolling Stock Operators, which unites small owners of rolling stock, expressed doubt that such a ban would actually deter railway operators from writing off their railcars and replacing them with new ones en masse.
