Cargo, Good for Business, Latvia, Railways, Transport

He said that rail freight in April this year had grown 7% compared to April 2017 and the increase in the first half of May was 3-4% year-on-year.

The year 2017 was tough due to various geopolitical decisions and sanctions, yet Latvijas Dzelzcels had managed to close the year with stable and positive indicators, including a pre-tax profit of EUR 800,000, Berzins said. He voiced hope that the global situation would stabilize and Latvijas Dzelzcels would be able to grow in the future.

The management of Latvijas Dzelzcels will announce the company's results for 2017 and the group's new strategy later today.

Last year the Latvian public railway infrastructure managed by Latvijas Dzelzcels was used to carry 43.8 million tons of freight, down 8.4% from 2016. In the first quarter of 2018, rail freight in Latvia shrank 15.4% year-on-year to 11.898 million tons.

However, the freight transportation using the Latvian railway infrastructure amounted to 15.673 million tons in the first four months of this year, down 10.9% from the same period in 2017, the Transport Ministry said.

International cargo shipments by rail in January-April 2018 came to 15.26 million tons, down 11.1% year-on-year, while domestic shipments fell 0.3% to 413,200 tons.

Transit cargo carried by rail was at 14.206 million tons in the first four months of this year, down 11.2% from the same period last year. Import cargo carried by rail fell 8% to 959,100 tons, and export cargo was down 30.1% to 94,800 tons. Shipping of rail cargo via Latvia's ports was down 16.6% year-on-year to 12.436 million tons in January-April 2018, and deliveries of transit cargo by land grew 63.1% to 1.77 million tons.

A total of 43.792 million tons of freight were shipped by rail in Latvia in 2017, down 8.4% from 2016. Rail freight carried in January-April 2017 amounted to 17.584 million tons.