Estonian rail freight carrier EVR Cargo hauled 15.8 million tons in 2014

Estonian state-owned rail freight carrier EVR Cargo hauled 15.76 million tons in 2014, remaining just 0.85 per cent or 135 thousand tons short of the 2013 freight volume. The volume in December reached to 1.55 million tons, increasing 1.6 per cent year-on-year.

EVR Cargo’s chairman of the management board Ahto Altjõe said that last year was a stable year for the company and was on a par with expectations. “We were just six wagons per day short of our 2013 result, which is a good result in these turbulent times,” said Altjõe. “EVR Cargo is expecting 2015 to be a challenging year due to increased competition and economic volatility in the entire region, but we aim to focus on particular niches and develop our strengths even further,” commented Altjõe.

The volume of container traffic in 2014 reached 72.017 TEUs, increasing 16 per cent year-on-year. The largest commodity group last year was mineral liquid fuels, which dropped by 5.7 per cent to 6.37 million tons. Fertiliser freight volumes increased by 12 per cent to 6.35 million tons. Oil shale volumes dropped by 5.6 per cent to 2.67 million tons. The transport volume of chemical goods increased by 6 per cent to 1.18 million tons.

Russia was the largest trade partner for EVR Cargo in 2014 with 8.08 million tons, increasing 9 per cent compared to 2013. Kazakhstan’s trade volume increased by 29 per cent to 1.76 million tons, while Latvian volumes dropped by 5 per cent to 1.33 million tons. Trade exchange with Belarus and Lithuania diminished respectively by 46 and 40 per cent to 612 thousand and 406 thousand tons. Transit volumes increased by 3.6 per cent to 10.63 million tons, forming 67 per cent of the total freight volume.

In December the volume of mineral liquid fuels increased by 8 per cent to 694 thousand tons year-on-year. Fertiliser volumes increased by 0.3 per cent to 271 thousand tons and the volume of chemical goods increased by 10 per cent to 110 thousand tons. Oil shale freight volume dropped by 22 per cent to 288 thousand tons in December.
Russia continued to be the largest trade partner in December with 699 thousand tons, dropping by 4 percent compared to December 2013. Kazakhstan’s trade exchange volume increased by 44 per cent to 229 thousand tons., Latvian trade flows increased by 40 per cent to 133 thousand tons and goods exchange with Belarus increased by 76 per cent to 95 thousand tons. Lithuanian volumes dropped by 47 per cent to 25 thousand tons.

Container traffic in December was reduced to nearly a half of the volume of the previous year’s December, reaching 2689 TEUs, attributable to a planned temporary reduction. Transit flows in December formed 69 per cent of the total freight turnover, increasing by 13 per cent to 1.07 million tons.

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 more than 3300 wagons and 80 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.