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Freight export via largest Sino-Russian border crossing growing by a third

In both directions, 22 mln metric tons of goods were transferred by rail

CHITA, January 30. /TASS/. Cargo transportation via Zabaikalsk, the largest railway crossing on the border between Russia and China, surged by a third in 2023, Russian Railways said on its Telegram channel.

"Transportation via the Zabaikalsk-Manzhouli border crossing increased by a third in 2023. In both directions, 22 mln metric tons of goods were transferred by rail (+32% vs. 2022), including 550,000 of TEUs (+15%). In December 2023, transportation surged by 32.5% to 1.86 mln metric tons," Russian Railways said.

Exports to China via Zabaikalsk gained 37% to 19.5 mln metric tons of various cargoes. They included 5.9 mln metric tons of coal (the twofold increase), 4.1 mln metric tons of iron ore (growth by 1.6 times), and 1.9 mln metric tons of paper (+19%).

In total, freight traffic via all Far Eastern railway crossings on the border with China and Mongolia stood at 43.9 mln metric tons and increased by 26%. Main export commodities were hard coal, lumber, iron ore, paper, grain and fertilizers.

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