RZD Container Traffic Rises 4.6% to 5.26 Million TEU in Eight Months as the Network Targets a Record Year

Russian Railways (RZD) carried 5.26 million TEU across its network in January-August 2026, up 4.6% year on year, the company said in a statement reported by Prime on September 8, 2026. August alone brought 664,900 laden and empty boxes, a gain of 7.3% - momentum that keeps container flows on the rail network of Russia on track for a possible annual record.

Eight-month results and the cargo mix

The total of 5 million 259 thousand TEU covers all traffic categories: domestic, export, import and transit. Tonnage also grew, though more slowly than box counts - 54.4 million tonnes of goods moved in containers, up 1.8% on the same period of 2025.

The largest categories over the eight months were:

• chemicals and soda - 559,100 TEU;
• industrial goods - 347,000 TEU;
• metalware (metizy) - 341,500 TEU.

The same three segments led the first-half statistics. In the six months to June, metalware volumes jumped 19.2% to 251,200 TEU, industrial goods rose 27% to 251,200 TEU and chemicals and soda added 6.4%, reaching 431,000 TEU, according to Prime's half-year summary of July 8, 2026.

Acceleration from month to month

1. First half of 2026: 3.921 million TEU, up 3.7% year on year;
2. June 2026: 671,200 TEU, up 13.4%;
3. January-July 2026: 4.6 million TEU, up 4.3%;
4. January-August 2026: 5.259 million TEU, up 4.6%.

The cumulative growth rate has stepped up with each monthly release, and August's 7.3% kept the tempo high after June's 13.4% spike - a notable turnaround for a network where total container volumes shrank in 2025.

From the 2025 slump to a record target

The last record on the network dates back to 2024, when RZD carried 7.88 million TEU. In 2025 volumes fell 4.1% to 7.6 million TEU. Speaking on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok (September 1-4), chief executive Oleg Belozorov said the company expects to set a new record in 2026: "Last year there was a dip. We grew very fast this year, restored a very high growth rate and think we will reach a record," Prime quoted him on September 3, 2026. Deputy chief executive Irina Magnushevskaya had earlier called the 8 million TEU goal for 2026 "ambitious".

What the target requires

Hitting 8 million TEU would mean carrying roughly 2.74 million boxes in September-December, on top of the 5.26 million already moved in the first eight months - a simple calculation from RZD's published figures, not a company forecast. For comparison, the record year of 2024 finished at 7.88 million TEU, and the 8 million mark would exceed it by about 1.5%.

Box counts matter for the wider B2B logistics chain: containers consolidate chemical, industrial and hardware shipments into scheduled block trains, and the recovery of rail volumes signals steady demand from manufacturers and traders shipping goods within the country and in transit traffic.