According to the State Statistics Committee of Russia (Russtat), in the January-April period of this year total shipment volumes by Russian railway monopoly Russian Railways (RZD) - including ferrous metals, coal, oil, fertilizers and timber - fell by four percent year on year. In particular, Russian Railways saw a 6.6 percent year-on-year decline in ferrous metal shipments in the first four months of 2013, with a total of 23.8 million mt, and a 10.3 percent year-on-year drop in steel scrap shipments to 4.2 million mt.
Total shipments by Russian Railways in April this year were down 3.5 percent compared to April 2012 to 102.7 million mt.