According to the data issued by Russian Railways (RZhD), in the first quarter of 2010 steel product shipments on Russia's railways increased by 16.5 percent to 17.378 million mt, shipments of iron and manganese ore went up by 19.1 percent to 24.015 million mt, shipments of ferrous scrap rose by 33.5 percent to 3.274 million mt, while shipments of coke increased by 67.5 percent to 3.07 million mt, all compared to the same period last year.
In March this year, as compared to February, steel product shipments increased by 6.2 percent, shipments of ferrous scrap went up by 29.7 percent and shipments of coke rose by 8.8 percent. Meanwhile, in March shipments of iron and manganese ore decreased by 3.3 percent month on month.
During the first quarter of 2010, Russia's total railway shipments increased by 12.7 percent year on year to 279.2 million mt.