Russian seizures of Europe-bound railfreight shipments look set to push ever greater volumes onto the trans-Caspian route that opened following the invasion of Ukraine.
Despite Moscow prohibiting transit of dual-use, civilian and military, tech to Europe via the country in October, shippers and their logistics partners were not made aware of the changes, with reports claiming they only found out following a wave of seizures.
One forwarder said they “dare not” ship goods via the Russian rail network since November over fears of confiscation.
A shipper said they had agents “literally running around” rail stations in China with spare parts for Boeing, unsure how best to send them, fearing Russian officials may consider the items ‘dual-use’.
And with more shippers now aware of the situation – Russian authorities have been using seized goods to support the country’s war against Ukraine, and containerised volumes on Europe-bound rail services are said to have collapsed, pushing shipments onto alternative routes.
A key beneficiary of this is the China-Kazakhstan link to Europe, which in the past 24 months has seen massive volume gains at the expense of Russian operators.
KTZ has been one of the main beneficiaries, posting a 13% uptick in volumes year on year.
Difficulty using the Russian network prompted the decision by China and Kazakhstan to launch another service to cater for the rising demand. To be operated by both KTZ and China Railway Container Transportation, the new route will operate China-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan-Iran-Turkey, before going on to European countries, with services expected to take 40 days to run.
“This route not only expands the transport capabilities of the region, but also makes international logistics even more flexible, fast, and reliable,” said a KTZ spokesperson.
“The launch of the service confirms the strategic role of Kazakhstan as key transit hub and strengthens its position on the map of global cargo transportation,” the spokesperson added, noting that the first service was destined for Poland.
Amid the increasing move away from Russia as a rail hub, Kazakhstan has carefully positioned itself as a link not only between China and Europe, but between India and Europe.
This month, in cooperation with rail providers in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, KTZ operated its first containerised rail freight service from India to the Kazakh capital, Astana, paving the way for rail links on to Europe.
Forwarders have said they could not see the service pulling in massive volumes, but said it offered alternatives in the case of supply chain disruption, like that seen on the Red Sea.