Container Traffic Holds Steady

In the first seven months of 2026 the Russian Railways network handled 4.594 million loaded and empty containers across all traffic types. Domestic shipments accounted for 1.722 million TEU (–1% year-on-year). Imports came to 1.17 million TEU (+22%), exports to 1.021 million TEU (–1.7%) and transit to 681,000 TEU (+1.9%).

Loaded containers over the same period totaled 3.334 million TEU, up 6.4% year-on-year, of which 755,000 TEU moved within Russia—a decline of 2.5%. Imports reached 1.051 million TEU, up 23.3%; exports came to 961,000 TEU, down 2%; and transit ran to 567,000 TEU, up 7.5%.

According to Igor Smirnov, Director for Freight Transport and Logistics at the Infrastructure Economics Center, the 4.3% gain over January–July looks solid, particularly since the container segment continues to outpace many traditional freight categories. Tellingly, while the number of containers grew, the tonnage they carried was up just 1.8%. That points to a continuing shift in the traffic mix toward lighter but high-margin, containerizable cargo, and to the rapid build-out of multimodal logistics.

“The 7.4% gain in July (the Russian Railways network handled 673,100 loaded and empty TEU in July, up 7.4%—Ed.) is a further sign that container traffic is gathering pace in the second half of the year,” the expert says.

The volume leaders were chemicals and soda ash (497,200 TEU, +6.4% against January–July 2025), metalware (296,400 TEU, up 20.1%), industrial goods (298,000 TEU, +23.5%), motor vehicles and components (243,400 TEU, a 1.5-fold increase) and machinery, machine tools and engines (235,200 TEU, up 21.8%).

Experts attribute the lead held by chemicals and soda ash to steady demand both at home and on export routes, primarily to Asia and the CIS. The growth in industrial goods reflects a recovery in manufacturing activity and wider domestic deliveries of components and finished products.

Forest products, by contrast, were in negative territory over the seven months, down 15.7%. Even so, timber ranks second by container volume among all commodity groups (296,400 TEU). “These volumes hold up because exports continue to be redirected to eastern markets, where the container format is increasingly in demand for value-added wood products and sawn timber,” Igor Smirnov explained.

Market analysts say that barring serious infrastructure constraints on the Eastern Operating Domain, and provided current demand for container services holds, container traffic should end 2026 up 4–6%. Chemicals and soda ash, industrial output and export-oriented cargo will remain the main drivers.

“Any further acceleration will depend on container fleet availability, rail infrastructure capacity, demand for imported goods and how fast the international transport corridors develop,” Smirnov adds.

Sergei Volkov