Ilim Group to replenish its own fleet with tank cars manufactured by ТikhvinChemMash

The PJSC “Research and production corporation “United Wagon Company” (“RPC UWC” or “the Holding”) (MOEX: UWGN), the market leader in innovative railcar building in the 1520 mm gauge area, and transportation company “Fintrans GL” LLC (part of Ilim Group) concluded an agreement for the supply of tank cars for chemical freights.  

Tank cars will be dispatched to the transportation company before the end of the year. As a result of this transaction the fleet of new generation tank cars owned by “Fintrans GL” will amount to about 50 units.

Tank car of model 15-6900 has no analogues in the CIS countries in terms of its technical-economic characteristics. Tank cars are fitted with bogies with increased axial load and has tank space of 54.5 m³ to ensure increased payload capacity of 73 t. Actual freight loading, when increased cubic capacity of tank is taken into account, is by 12% more compared to other tank cars. Between repairs run of the tank car amounts to 800,000 km or 8 years. Tank car service life is 32 years.

There is an additional economic effect that the owners of these tank cars will get: they will have their required fleet decreased by 10%, their repair costs and costs due to empty tariff during transportation of the same freight volume will be decreased by more than 50%. Moreover, when customers purchase innovative freight cars set on bogies with increased axle load they are covered by the state programme, under which a freight cars buyer is entitled to obtain a subsidy in the amount of 300,000 rubles/freight car.

The tank car allows to transport a wide range of chemical freights, including caustic soda, caustic alkali and other freights. The tank of the tank car is made of low-alloy steel. Special design solutions have been applied in the tank car in terms of thermal insulation; these solutions preserve freight properties to the maximum, including during operational use in winter.

Tank car is designed by All-Union Research and Development Centre for Transportation Technology and is manufactured in ТikhvinChemMash tank car building plant (part of RPC UWC).

Be noted that the cooperation of companies RPC UWC and Fintrans GL began in 2011. Agreements for the transfer of more than 300 boxcars into long-term lease and a purchase agreement for tank cars for chemical freights were previously signed with Fintrans GL.

Kurovsky Maxim, managing director for logistics at Ilim Group, said: "We are systematically implementing our coherent policy aimed at the modernization of our fleet on account of new generation freight cars. This year, we have already received the batch of tank cars produced by United Wagon Company and have evaluated new opportunities in the work. We have a much more effective freight traffic now. Among other things loading of freight increased considerably, and freight flows are optimized. Such positive results influenced our decision to conclude the second transaction. We hope that that’s just the beginning”.