EVR Cargo’s freight volume reached 878 thousand tons in July

Estonian state-owned rail freight operator EVR Cargo’s freight volume reached 878 thousand tons in July, dropping by 14 per cent compared to July 2014. The total volume of goods hauled in the first seven months of the year reached 7.25 million tons, staying 20 per cent below last year’s first seven months’ volume.

EVR Cargo’s chairman of the board Ahto Altjõe said that fertiliser volumes continued to top the list of freight movements in July as well. “Thanks to a stable growth trend in the fertilisers segment, this freight group is now equal to mineral liquid fuel volumes and chemical goods volumes combined”, noted Altjõe. “Overall freight volumes have however dropped due to decreased demand in the domestic oil shale transport segment,” added Altjõe.

The overall volume of fertilisers in July increased by 14 per cent year-on-year, reaching 351 thousand tons. Mineral liquid fuel volumes decreased by 14 per cent to 271 thousand tons. Dry bulk cargo volumes dropped by 57 per cent to 25 thousand tons. Oil shale volumes were down by 78 per cent, reaching 37 thousand tons and chemical goods volumes increased by 40 per cent to 107 thousand tons. Container traffic volumes dropped by 30 per cent to 4493 TEUs in July.

The largest trade partner for EVR Cargo in July was Russia, where the total volume of goods exchanged reached 545 thousand tons. Russia was followed by Belarus with 105 thousand tons, Latvia with 47 thousand tons and Kazakhstan with 8600 tons. Trade exchange with Lithuania increased to 60 thousand tons.

Transit freight volumes reached 609 thousand tons in July, forming 69 per cent of the total freight volume and increasing by 0.4 per cent compared to July last year.

During the first seven months of the year, EVR Cargo’s total freight volume has reached 7.25 million tons, dropping by 20 per cent compared to last year. The volume of mineral liquid fuels decreased by 32 per cent to 2.64 million tons. The volume of fertilisers has increased by 15 per cent to 2.2 million tons. The freight volume of chemical goods has reduced by 11 per cent to 574 thousand tons, the volume of oil shale transport has dropped by 27 per cent to 1.044 million tons and the volume of dry bulk cargo by 47 per cent to 226 thousand tons. Container volumes reached 26 388 TEUs in the first seven months, down by 41 per cent from last year.

AS EVR Cargo was separated from Estonian Railways in 2012, the company serves its customers in Estonia on a 1229-kilometre long railway track as well as over the entire 1520-millimeter gauge railway network, stretching from Finland to the Black Sea and from the Baltic States to the coast of the Sea of Japan, covering all CIS member states. Rail cars are hauled to and from Russia and surrounding regions in block trains or shuttles, requiring less formalities and thus ensuring faster delivery times. The company also has its own fleet of approximately 3000 wagons and 70 locomotives and offers rolling stock repair and maintenance services to its customers. The Estonian logistics hub has several competitive advantages: fully renovated railway infrastructure with more than 25 million tons of annual free capacity, modern port and terminal infrastructure, transparent costs and a business-friendly tax and economic environment.