As a rule, 1Q is characterized by lower freight values when compared to other quarters. In 1Q 2021, when compared to 4Q 2020, decreases in weight and transport performance amounted to 7.3% and 10.4% respectively. When compared to 1Q 2020, the increase in basic parameters was 4.4% in weight and 2.9% in transport performance.
When we compare data with 1Q 2020, the highest increase in weight was in coal, lignite, crude oil and natural gas commodity group. The total weight transported for this group was 22.3 m tonnes which is almost 1.5 m tonnes more (an increase by 7.2%). The transport performance was 2.9 bn tonne-km (an increase by 1.4%). When compared to 4Q 2020, the weight of goods from this commodity group decreased by 4% and the transport performance dropped by 6.5%.
The weight of transported non-identifiable goods also rose – the increase was almost by 1.1 m tonnes, which is 25.8% more than in 1Q 2020. In the transport performance, the increase in this commodity group amounted to 322 m tonne-km, which was 24.2% more than in 1Q 2020. In 1Q 2020 in this group 5.3 m tonnes were transported and the transport performance was 1.7 bn tonne-km.
- When we look at the data from 1Q 2021 and 1Q 2020, the growing interest in intermodal transport is visible. The greater demand for transport of such goods as coal, refined petroleum products or iron ore shows that the impact of the pandemic on the economic situation lessens - concludes Ignacy Góra, President of the Office of Rail Transport. – For aggregates, the decrease in transport was largely related to the slower pace of works due to bad weather conditions in 1Q 2021 - adds Ignacy Góra.
The shares of the commodity groups in 1Q 2021 were as follows:
- coal, lignite, crude oil and natural gas - 39.3% in weight and 26.1% in transport performance (increases by 1% in weight and 1.1% in transport performance as compared to 1Q 2020),
- metal ores, mining and quarrying products - 22.2% in weight and 23% in transport performance (decreases by 1.8% in weight and 0.2% in transport performance as compared to 1Q 2020),
- chemicals and chemical products - 4.9% in weight and 6.5% in transport performance (decreases by 0.1% in weight and 0.4% in transport performance as compared to 1Q 2020),
- metals and finished metal products - 4.2% in weight and 3.7% in transport performance (decreases by 0.2% in weight and 0.5% in transport performance as compared to 1Q 2020).
The average transport distance was 226 km, which is a decrease by 3.1 km as compared to 1Q 2020. When compared to 4Q 2020, the average transport distance of a tonne of goods was shorter by nearly 8 km.
Detailed data can be found on our new statistics website Dane Kolejowe (Railway Data) in the Commodity groups section.