According to a review by the Institute for Transport Economics and Development (IEDT), in July 2025 the volume of coal not presented for loading under approved requests reached 2.2 million tons. Of this, 1.3 million tons was intended for export (including 0.9 million tons eastbound), while 900,000 tons was for domestic shipments, the official RZD channel reports.
Analysts note that the profitability of Russian coal supplies remains low due to falling global prices and the strengthening of the ruble. The total volume of coal loaded in July amounted to 25.3 million tons, which is 3.2% less than in July 2024. At the same time, 10 million tons were shipped eastbound for export (+13.4%), while total coal exports on the RZD network reached 14.7 million tons (–0.5%). The eastern direction accounted for 56% of total coal loading, with 84% of eastbound export shipments transported in innovative gondola cars with an axle load of 25 tons and above. The gondola fleet continues to show a surplus of 33%: with a calculated requirement of 293,000 units to fulfill July requests, the actual number of cars stood at 391,000 units.