Kryukiv Railcar freight car output down 2x yoy in January

Kryukiv (KVBZ UK) freight railcar production dropped 47% yoy to 532 cars in January (also down 1.8% mom), Interfax reported on Feb. 8. The company did not produce passenger railcars in January.

Roman Dmytrenko: Kryukiv’s tiny January output is of little surprise as the company’s key market, the Russian Federation, is effectively closed and can’t be substituted by other supply destinations in the CIS as all the other markets are jointly 5x smaller. Russia effectively banned Kryukiv’s freight railcar exports, suspending quality certification on bogie frames (castings) produced by Kremenchuk Steel Casting, Kryukiv’s only bogie castings supplier. So far, we see no signs that the certification will be reinstated soon, which implies that the company’s output can decline even further in the coming months.