Grain loading on the Russian Railways network is growing and falling at the same time

During the January-March period of this year, the loading of mineral fertilizers on Russian railways increased by 5.9% to 16.5 million tons. In January it amounted to 5.7 million tons, in February — 5.1 million tons, and in March — 5.7 million tons.

At the same time, for the first three months of 2021, the loading of grain jumped by 31.7% to 7.5 million tons, of which 2.7 million tons in January, 2.5 million tons in February, and 2.3 million tons in March.

“The gradual stagnation in railway transportation of grain can be explained by the restrictions on their export from Russia introduced in February to stabilize food prices in the domestic market. Moreover, by the end of April, we can expect a collapse in the loading of grain on the railways of less than 0.5-1 million tons. It can begin to recover in June, when the grain damper mechanism comes into force, or in July when the export quota expires,” noted Andrey Viktorov, the Editor of Fertilizer Daily. “The transportation of mineral fertilizers can continue to grow due to the favorable price environment in the world market.”