Queues of railcars at border crossings decreased by 9% month-on-month in October 2022

As of November 1, 2022, 16,600 freight railcars are in the queue for transfer to the European Union

In October 2022, queues of freight railcars at border crossings decreased by 9% compared to the previous month – to 16.6 thousand units of rolling stock. Valery Tkachev, deputy director of Ukrzalitnytsia’s (UZ) commercial work department, reports about it on his Facebook page.

“At almost all border crossings, the volume of orders significantly exceeds the throughput capacity of the crossings, so CTL is forced to apply lowering coefficients to reconcile all received orders from exporters,” he noted.

During January-October 2022, Ukrzaliznytsia transported 129.9 million tons of cargo, which is almost half less than in the same period last year. At the same time, during the period from March to October, the monthly volume of cargo transportation by railway increased from 8.29 million tons to 12.06 million tons.

“But this monthly volume of transportation, unfortunately, is significantly lower than the pre-war level,” Valery Tkachev comments.

In October 2022, UZ increased cargo handling by 3.3% compared to September – up to 12.06 million tons. Export transportation in October amounted to 5.19 million tons, which is 0.3% less month-on-month.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in October 2022, Ukrzaliznytsia reduced transportation of iron and manganese ores by 4.3% compared to the previous month – to 1.43 million tons. Transportation of ferrous metals decreased by 9.2% m/m – to 628.5 thousand tons.

In 2021, Ukrazliznytsia increased railways shipment of finished steel products by 5.9% compared to 2020 – up to 21.7 million tons. Export transportation increased by 3.8% by 2020 – up to 15.7 million tons.

In 2021, UZ reduced transportation of iron and manganese ores by 2.7% compared to 2020 – to 77.6 million tons. Export transportation in 2021 fell by 3% y/y – to 44.6 million tons, and domestic – increased by 3.1%, up to 27.7 million tons.