EVR Cargo’s freight volume in January reached 1.59 million tons

Estonian state-owned railway freight operator EVR Cargo’s freight volume reached 1.59 million tons in January, which despite being the best result of the last 11 months is still 18.5 per cent below last year’s record January volume. 

 

According to EVR Cargo’s chairman of the board Ahto Altjõe, the year-on-year decrease in freight volumes may seem dramatic, but in reality it would have been nearly impossible to match last year’s record January volume. The volume of liquid mineral fuels decreased by 27 per cent to 0.74 million tons. “The cold winter in the beginning of 2013 reduced the capacity of neighbouring terminals and infrastructure and the simultaneous increase in the export of Russian oil products allowed Estonia to handle a considerable volume in January last year,” noted Altjõe, adding that a year ago EVR Cargo also handled a large part of oil goods destined to Vopak EOS, which is usually hauled by Vopak EOS’s own railway operator E.R.S. 

 

This year’s soft winter has also impacted the domestic volume of oil shale transport, reducing the volume by 34 per cent to 0.27 million tons. Other noteworthy commodity groups displayed varying results, as the volume of fertilisers increased by 14 per cent to 0.3 million tons and the volume of chemical goods increased by 2 per cent to 95 thousand tons, while solid bulk goods decreased by 21 per cent to 56 thousand tons and the volume of coal transport reached 23 thousand tons. 

 

The most important trade partner for EVR Cargo was Russia, where the total volume of goods exchanged reached 0.84 million tons, decreasing by 8 per cent year-on-year. Russia was followed by Latvia with 177 thousand tons, Belarus with 132 thousand tons and Kazakhstan with 108 thousand tons. 

 

Total number of containers hauled by EVR Cargo increased by 42 per cent in January compared to the previous year, reaching a total of 5925 TEUs. The primary destination in container freight remains Russia, where the most important route is the Muuga-Kaluga line that supplies the Mitsubishi plant near Moscow with spare parts. “These impressive growth percentage numbers are likely to change from February onwards, although presumably the total volume shall remain on a similar level as last year,” said Altjõe. “The Kaluga shuttle train started operations at the end of January 2013 and therefore the year-on-year point of comparison will be considerably higher from February onwards,” noted Altjõe. 

 

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. EVR Cargo also leases wagons and locomotives to its clients and maintains the rolling stock repair and maintenance facility Tapa Depot.