Ukrainian Railways transported 1.79 million tons of iron ore to Slovakia in January-April

In January-April 2024, Ukrainian Railways JSC (UZ) reduced the transportation of iron ore through Ukrainian-Slovak railroad crossings by 6% compared to the same period in 2023 – to 1.79 million tons. This was discussed during an online meeting of representatives of Ukrainian Railways with Slovak carriers, Rail.Insider reports.

In January-April, rail transportation of ferrous metals to Slovakia amounted to 49 thousand tons, which is 36.4% less than in the same period in 2023.

In total, 2.3 million tons of cargo were transported by rail across the Ukrainian-Slovak border crossings in 4 months. This is 245 thousand tons less than in the same period last year. Grain shipments dropped from 256 thousand tons to 76 thousand tons.

As a reminder, in January-April, UZ increased export transportation of iron ore by 2.1 times compared to the same period in 2023 to 12.52 million tons, and ferrous metals by 9.1% y/y – to 1.6 million tons. In total, Ukrainian Railways transported 59.9 million tons of cargo over the period, up 28.7% y/y. The company shipped 30.42 million tons of cargo for export (+48.8% y/y).

As GMK Center reported earlier, Ukrainian Railways transported 148.4 million tons of cargo in 2023, down 1.5%, or 2.2 million tons, compared to 2022. Iron ore transportation decreased by 13.2% y/y – to 27.5 million tons, ferrous metals by 10.6% y/y – to 8.2 million tons, and grain by 5.9% y/y – to 30.6 million tons.