Russia assesses possibility of building railway to China via Mongolia www.sxcoal.com
Russia is discussing the feasibility of creating an
alternative transport railway from Southern Siberia to
China through Mongolia, as its main freight artery to the
east is insufficient for large-volume coal exports, Tass
reported on November 7, citing the deputy head of the
Khakassia region in the country.
Russian Railways' Eastern Polygon, which includes the
Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur Mainlines, has become
one of the main lines for the transport of coal and other
products eastward for export. However, it increasingly
suffers a lack of capacity to handle the swelled demand,
making the consideration necessary.
"The construction of the said railway corridor will
eliminate the deficit in the capacity of the infrastructure in
the context of a massive reorientation of freight flows,"
said Mikhail Pobyzakov, the deputy head of the region.
Besides, it may provide an opportunity to increase the
production of thermal coal at the Beyskoye coal deposit,
and will also relieve significant volumes of freight flows
from the Kemerovo region - Kuzbass and the Republic of
Tyva, he noted.
The Beyskoye coal deposit is one of the most
promising deposits of high-quality thermal coal in Russia.
It was previously reported that its reserves are estimated
at 4 billion tonnes.
Due to the lack of throughput capacity, the
government of Khakassia and Russian Railways have
entered into an agreement on the export of coal by rail for
export in the eastern direction, with the established quota
for 2024 at 6.5 million tonnes.
There are eight coal mining enterprises operating in
Khakassia, producing 12.6 million tonnes of coal in the first
half of 2024.
The republic exported 11.5 million tonnes of coal to
the east in 2020, but shipments decreased to 4.38 million
tonnes in 2022, and after the agreement with Russian
Railways in 2023, the volume increased to 6.1 million tonnes.
Published Date:2024-11-12