Russian Railway Coal Shipments Increased Significantly in June

 In the first half of 2026, the Russian Railways Company (RZD) recorded a freight volume of 5.489 million tons, a 1% decrease year-on-year. However, the railway freight volume in June reached 90.2 million tons, a 1% increase year-on-year.

 The report indicates that the key drivers of the increase in railway freight volume in June were: a 11.1% year-on-year increase in coal transportation, a 36.5% year-on-year increase in grain transportation, and a 10.8% year-on-year increase in copper ore transportation.

 It is reported that the volume of cement and timber cargo transportation has shown positive growth for the second consecutive month, increasing by 6.7% and 4.2% respectively. In addition, iron-manganese ore, scrap steel, and fertilizers also entered the "green zone," increasing by 3.7%, 3.4%, and 0.2% respectively.

 In June, the volume of railway freight exports to the east increased to 14.5 million tons, a 10.5% year-on-year growth, including: fertilizers (+14%), petroleum products (+21.7%), metal ores (+21.9%), grains (14.3 times increase), coal (+9.2%), chemicals (+43.5%), and container cargo (+4.3%).

 Russian railway freight volume has increased for the third consecutive month, rising by 1.9% in April, 0.5% in May, and 1% in June. At the same time, railway freight turnover increased at a higher rate-growing by 4.1% in April and May, and 4.5% in June, which is related to the continued shift of Russian logistics towards longer routes, especially in the eastern direction, thereby increasing the transportation distance.