HOHHOT -- The volume of chemical fertilizer imported from Russia through railway via Manzhouli, a land port in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, doubled this year as the COVID-19 pandemic affected maritime transport services.

As of Thursday, 1.62 million tons of chemical fertilizers on 24,249 train carriages have been imported via the Manzhouli station at the China-Russia border, up 124.64 percent and 122.49 percent year-on-year, respectively, the station said Friday.

Potassium chloride and potassium sulfate were among the imported fertilizer ingredients produced by Russia, which were mainly sold to regions including Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has affected import services via sea freight, some companies turned to rail transportation.

Although China has entered the slack season for chemical fertilizer sales, some companies have started increasing the inventory to stabilize the market and meet the demand of farmers.

From September to November, a total of 419,200 tons had been imported via the Manzhouli station, some 17 times the volume imported during the same period last year, the station said.