ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 12. Over 61.4 million tons of cargo were moved across the Kazakhstan Railways network in the first quarter of 2024, matching last year's figures, Trend reports.
According to the company's latest report, domestically, transportation increased by 2.4 percent to over 40.2 million tons, with 21.2 million tons destined for export.
Furthermore, from January through March 2024, the railway loaded 26.3 million tons of coal, delivering 19.5 million tons within Kazakhstan and exporting 6.8 million tons of solid fuel.
Around 2.2 million tons of grain were loaded in the first quarter, including 1.6 million tons for export.
Meanwhile, transportation of iron and manganese ore saw a 17-percent increase (5 million tons), colored ore and sulfur raw materials rose by 16.5 percent (5.8 million tons), and petroleum products saw a 6-percent uptick (4.7 million tons) during the reporting period.
Exports of petroleum products climbed by 22 percent (1.3 million tons), chemical fertilizers by 16.7 percent (338,000 tons), and iron and manganese ore by 22.4 percent (2.8 million tons) over 1Q2024.
The volume of cargo transportation by rail in Kazakhstan amounted to 416.4 million tons in 2023 - up by 2.8 percent year-on-year.
The Kazakh government aims to build more than 1,300 km of new railways throughout the country over the next 3 years.