Today we provided commentary on Kommersant FM radio regarding the Financial Times news: “Houthi attacks have increased rail freight volumes through Russia.”
Other industry experts agreed with us, also not fully feeling that “the number of requests for freight rail transportation through Russia has grown by 40%,‘let us explain why. Demand has indeed grown and we (albeit with a great deal of skepticism) expected a boom similar to 2021, but three years ago there was no such sanctions pressure as today. European companies have to use a route that is more expensive and twice as long because they refuse to work with Russian carriers due to ethical issues or the risk of secondary sanctions.
Now let's look at the numbers: in 2021, transit traffic through the Russian Federation amounted to 1.1 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), while this year's volumes are 4 times smaller, even with the increased demand. That is, an increase in current volume even by 40% represents quite modest figures, considering the capacities available to Russian Railways.