According to the State Statistics Committee of Russia (Russtat), in the January-October period of this year total shipment volumes by Russian railway monopoly Russian Railways (RZD) - including ferrous metals, coal, oil, fertilizers and timber - fell by 3.2 percent year on year to 1.03 billionmt.

In particular, Russian Railways saw a 5.3 percent year-on-year decline in ferrous metal shipments in the first 10 months of the current year, with a total of 58.4 million mt, a 9.9 percent decrease in steel scrap shipments to 13.9 million mt, and a 10.9 percent year-on-year drop in coke shipments to 9.5 million mt.