Cargo transportation rose 12.4% in January-March 2010 over January-March 2009, and made up 172.7 mn tons, the State Statistics Committee has informed. Cargo transportation by rail grew 9.2% to 95.1 mn tons. Transportation of iron and manganese ore increased by 31.6%, timber - by 67.3%, ferrous scrap metals by 36.1%, coke by 25.3%, ferrous metals by 12.4%, chemical and mineral fertilizers by 9.5%, crude oil and petroleum products by 8.9%.

At the same time, transportation of construction materials fell 1.5%, cement by 30.1%, coal by 2.6% and grain and its products by 29.2%. Enterprises engaged in automobile transportation transported 28.5 mn tons of cargo, a 9.8% increase compared to January-March last year.