Volga Shipping Company vessels transported 6.5 million tonnes of freight in 2017, which was a 24 per cent increase year on year.
The Russian company, which is part of UCL Holding, says its net-tonne-per-kilometre freight grew year on year by 16 per cent to 6.25 billion tonnes per kilometre.
Cargo carried on Russia's inland waterways totalled 2.5 million tonnes (+46 per cent), with much of that due to record crops and recovery in the construction market in the Central and Volga regions.
Exports totalled four million tonnes (up 13 per cent).
About one-third of all cargo was 2.2 million tonnes of grain (+42 per cent), but export metal transportation fell 26 per cent (-200,000 tonnes) to 0.7 million tonnes.
Sulphur transportation totalled 1 million tonnes, which is the same as the previous year.
Crushed stone (from Karelia's open pits) make the bulk of cargoes carried within Russia – 1.6 million tonnes (up 500,000 tonnes, or +42 per cent, year on year).
Domestic transportation of gravel tripled to 0.3 million tonnes.
