Ukraine's railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia increases domestic cargo transport 3% in September, exports drop by a third

MOSCOW. Oct 4 (Interfax) - In September of this year, Ukrzaliznytsia increased cargo transportation of all types 3% compared to the same period in 2022 to 12.035 million tonnes, Ukrainian media reported citing the company's press service.

"There was an overall increase in traffic due to growth in the volume of domestic cargo transportation of 35.5% to 7.896 million tonnes," the report said.

At the same time, export transport by rail in September decreased 31.2% to 3.578 million tonnes. Exports of grain cargo fell almost threefold to 1.072 million tonnes. However, transportation of iron and manganese ores for export increased 50.5% to 1.453 million tonnes.

Transportation of imported goods decreased 18% to 518,500 tonnes, while transit increased 2.3 times to 43,200 tonnes.

In terms of products, mineral building materials are volume leaders, with transport up 77.3% in September 2023 to 3.310 million tonnes, including an 88% increase in domestic traffic to 3.087 million tonnes.

"For objective reasons, we have negative export transport indicators, specifically for strategically important grain cargo. Ukrzaliznytsia once again emphasizes its readiness to transport all necessary volumes and calls on its partners from neighboring countries to jointly develop railway logistics between countries and to strengthen our business relations," board member Vyacheslav Eremin said.

Ukrzaliznytsia transported 94.9 million tonnes of cargo in H1, which is 10.5% less than in the same period last year.