In the January-May period of this year, total shipment volumes by Russian railway monopoly Russian Railways (RZD) - including ferrous metals, coal, oil, fertilizers and timber - decreased by 0.6 percent year on year, according to the State Statistics Committee of Russia (Russtat).
In particular, Russian Railways saw a 1.3 percent year-on-year decline in ferrous metal shipments in the first five months of the current year, with a total of 29.4 million mt, a 5.6 percent decrease in steel scrap shipments to 5.6 million mt, and a 2.4 percent year-on-year drop in coke shipments to 4.7 million mt.