MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/. Container traffic over the Russian Railways network lost 2% year-on-year to 1.9 mln TEU [20 ft container equivalent - TASS] in January - March 2026, the Russian railway operator says.

March saw 679,000 empty and laden TEUs carried in all kinds of service.

"In the first quarter in total, 1.904 mln empty and laden TEUs were carried in all kinds of service. This is 2% less the like period of the last year," Russian Railways said.

The number of laden containers dispatched in all kinds of service dropped by 0.7% to 1.4 mln TEU, including 416,200 TEU in import service, up 3.5%.

Chemicals and soda took the lead in terms of the shipment volume - 216,800 TEU, up 6.1% annually, followed by industrial goods with 131,400 TEU (+27.2%). The good pace was also demonstrated by transportation of non-ferrous ore (up 36.2%), oil cargoes (+12.9%), and non-ferrous metals (+10.6%).

"Overall, 19.8 mln tons of various cargoes were shipped in containers," Russian Railways said.