Coal, cement and iron ore for steel plants saw the maximum incremental loading in December 2011, a month in which the Indian Railways registered the highest growth in freight loading for the current fiscal.
Railways moved almost seven million tonne additional cargo during the month against the same month in 2010. The rail freight loading of these three commodities - coal, cement and iron ore for steel plants went up by over six million tonne. The commodities that dragged the freight performance down were iron ore for exports, and domestic containers.
Many other commodity groups witnessed a double digit growth including pig iron and finished steel, fertilisers, export-import containers. But these groups have a lower base and thus the additional incremental loading is below one million tonne.