Kazakhstan's rail traffic rises, driven by surge in export and transit

Total freight transportation across the KTZ network rose by 11.5 million tons (4%) year-over-year.

Rail export transportation climbed by 6% (4.9 million tons) to 80.2 million tons.

Notably, coal transportation increased by 8%, hitting 31.2 million tons, primarily due to intensified shipments to Russia, the European Union, and Central Asia.

The volume of grain transportation surged by 36% to 9.7 million tons (+2.6 million tons).

Shipments to Central Asian countries rose by 32% to 5.6 million tons, including 4.0 million tons sent to Uzbekistan (+31%), 1.3 million tons to Tajikistan (+19%), and 300,000 tons to Kyrgyzstan, representing a 3-fold spike.

Furthermore, grain transportation to Iran doubled (800,000 tons).

Meanwhile, transit transportation through the Russian territory grew by 3.2 times to 2.2 million tons. This includes major traffic gains through the ports, with volume via the Black Sea increasing by 51% (350,000 tons) and freight via the Baltic ports nearly doubling with a 96% rise (161,000 tons). Shipments directed to the Baltic countries and ports showed exceptional growth, reaching 724,000 tons, an 8-fold increase.

Additionally, 4.2 million tons of processed grain products and compound feed were shipped (+57%). This significant rise was driven by the surge in compound feed supplies to China, reaching 2.9 million tons, nearly a 4-fold year-over-year growth.

Qazinform previously reported that Kazakhstan cut ‘grey’ fuel turnover to 20% in digitalization efforts.