Ukrainian Railways purchased 32 thousand tons of rails from China

Ukrainian Railways JSC (UZ) has signed two agreements to supply 32 thousand tons of rails from China. This is stated in the company’s message.

As noted, for the first time since 2021, UZ has conducted a successful competitive purchase of rails through open bidding in the Prozorro system.

Two agreements for the purchase of 32 thousand tons of critical rail products were signed in January this year. These volumes are enough to build and repair about 245 km of tracks.

According to the contract, the price of the rail is $960 per ton (excluding VAT), which is significantly cheaper than previous contracts.

“Our experts visited the rail production site in China, where the first batch of 16 thousand tons has already been rolled, conducted a detailed inspection of the products and familiarized themselves with the production process. In April, the rail will be shipped from the port, and we expect it to arrive in Ukraine in three months,” the statement said.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in January-February 2025, Ukrainian Railways reduced iron ore exports by 4.1% compared to the same period in 2023, to 6.06 million tons. Export transportation of ferrous metals for 2 months increased by 3.3% y/y – to 855.8 thousand tons.

The total volume of cargo transported by UZ in the period decreased by 8.4% compared to the same period in 2024 to 26.28 million tons. In particular, in export traffic it amounted to 13.87 million tons (-9.1% y/y), in import traffic – 1.52 million tons (-15.2%). Domestic transportation decreased by 5.4% y/y to 10.85 million tons.