Kazakhstan’s rail freight transport maintains growth in first 7 months of 2026

During the reporting period, domestic traffic stood at 97.2 million tons, while the volume of export shipments showed a 6.5 percent on-year rise to reach 53.4 million tons.

KTZ said the seven-month period saw the volume of coal transport make up 60.4 million tons, 3.5 percent more compared to the same period last year. Out of the total volume, 40.9 million tons were supplied to the domestic market, marking a 3 percent rise. Coal exports amounted to 18.8 million tons, up 3.1 percent, the company added.

Kazakhstan increased total grain transport volumes by 10 percent year over year, reaching 8.1 million tons in the first seven months of 2026. The country’s grain exports were surged 10.4 percent to 6.3 million tons, while domestic shipments stood at 1.8 million tons, up 8.6 percent compared to last year.

The export volume of grain mill products shipments totaled 1.3 million tons, representing a 14 percent rise, the company said in a statement.

In January-July this year, the transport of non-ferrous ore across the KTZ network amounted to 12.5 million tons, and construction materials totaled 11.3 million tons.

The company also highlighted growth across a number of key cargo categories: 13.8 million tons of iron ore were transported (16.6%), 15.2 million tons of oil products (1.5%), 1.2 million tons of crude oil (3%), and 36.9 million tons of other goods (4.2%).

Earlier, Qazinform reported a new 100,000-container logistics hub opens in Almaty region.