Amount of cargos carried by rail in the first two months of this year is stable compared to the same period of previous year.LDz Cargo Ltd., subsidiary of SJSC Latvijas dzelzceļš, in two months has carried 9.46 million tons of cargo, which is 1.9% less than in 2008, when there were transported 9.6 million tons of cargo.
At the same time the amount of import cargos has increased, ie. carrying 8.3 million tons that is 217 thousand tons more than last year – shows transportation statistics of LDz Cargo Ltd., subsidiary of Latvijas dzelzceļš.
In the first two months of 2009 LDz Cargo, the biggest rail freight carrier in the Baltic States and the fifth biggest rail freight carrier in the EU by volume of transported cargos, has carried 9.46 million tons of cargo. In comparison, the volume of transported cargos in Lithuania has decreased by 32%, but in Estonia – by 14 %.
Export transportations have increased by 15%. In the first two months of 2009 LDz Cargo has carried 392 thousand tons, but in the respective period of 2008 there were transported 341 thousand tons of export cargos.
“LDz Cargo keeps stable cargo volumes of the main types of cargos. In the first two months of 2009 most of all there were carried oil and oil products – 4 million tons, which is 2.9% more than in the same period of 2008. The amount of coal carried by rail has increased by 25.5% and in January 2009 has reached 3.5 million tons. The volume of chemical cargos in January 2009 has increased by 10.7%, ie. carrying 434 thousand tons. Unfortunately, there was a considerable decline in cargo volumes of domestic transportations indicating a fall in economic activity in Latvia, “ said Guntis Mačs, Chairman of the Board of LDz Cargo.
This year the volume of mineral fertilizers carried by rail has declined considerably – 485 thousand tons. In the first two months of 2008 LDz Cargo transported 955 thousand tons of mineral fertilizers.
This year there was a downward tendency of transit and domestic transportations that decreased by 42.6% and 16%, respectively, ie. carrying 554 and 221 thousand tons.
The amount of ferrous metals carried by rail has decreased by more than half - this year there were transported 220 thousand tons. The fall in volumes of this type of cargo is connected with a rapid decline in demand for these products in the world markets.
Prepared by:
LDz Public Relations Division in cooperation with LDz Cargo