China-Europe freight trains weekly commentary（Feb.13-Feb.19)

China-Europe?freight?train?operation?updates?（Week?8）

In Week 8, the China-Europe freight train operated smoothly, and the handling efficiency at ports fluctuated slightly. At the main ports of the China-Kazakhstan border, Alashankou and Khorgos, the trains stranded for about 5 to 7 days, and at the China-Mongolia border, Erenhot, the train will be held up for nearly 7-15 days. In terms of the overall T/T, the whole shipment from Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Yiwu and other stations to Duisburg and Hamburg is 16-23 days; from Chengdu, Xi'an, Chongqing, Hefei, Guiyang and other stations to Moscow is 10-18 days, and to St. Petersburg is about 18-25 days. The shortest time from Chengdu to Moscow is 10 days via Alashankou, and it takes almost 20-28 days via Erenhot.

Industry insiders told Cargo Talk that several booking platforms released plenty of spaces this week, as Xi'an Free Trade Port released 7-8 batches of trains to Russia in late February, which eased the worries on the vacancies. Along with the recent reduction in market volume and the arrival of the traditional off-season, the spaces in early March seem to be relatively abundant. Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an and other stations have successively announced the booking price of public trains in March. Overall, the spot freight rate has little fluctuation, and some routes have showed a small increase of about 5%.

This week, container leasing prices remained stable, and it varies between 800 and 1000 dollars to Europe. The overall leasing price to Russia was slightly higher. Those from Xi'an and Chongqing where the supply is short were slightly higher than those of coastal areas by 200 dollars. In addition, due to the reduced volume of goods and fierce market competition, the price of domestic trailers fell slightly, and long-distance transport was reduced by 100-200 dollars.

According to CCTV News, to better meet the demand of international intermodal transport and adapt to the change of the freight source structure of the train, China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. has implemented the measures of expanding the capacity and increasing the tonnage of the China-Europe freight trains. In January, China-Europe trains achieved remarkable results in terms of capacity expansion and tonnage increase, with 757 trains departing, with a full capacity rate of 83%, and the volume of container cargo shipments further increased. At the same time, the railway department strengthens the transportation organization of the return train, and requires the rail companies at ports to strengthen the communication with the foreign counterparts. It is suggested that they should avoid breaking up the train formation at the overseas stations when reloading, and use the original formation as much as possible to run the return train , so the chassis can be in full circulation. In January, the China-Europe return train opened 653 trains, up 9% year on year.

China, five Central Asian nations hold forum to boost industry, investment cooperation

China and five Central Asian countries kicked off a first-ever forum on industry and investment cooperation in Qingdao, Shandong Province. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the China + Central Asia (C+C5) industry and investment cooperation forum, lauding the strategic partnerships between China and the five countries of Central Asia, which have established a new path with a friendly neighborhood and win-win cooperation and a new paradigm for international relations. At the same time, he pointed out that deepening cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries will effectively maintain the stability of the regional industrial chain and supply chain. China has always been a trustworthy and reliable good neighbor, good partner, good friend and good brother of Central Asian countries. Cooperative projects have achieved outstanding results in bilateral and multilateral fields such as agriculture, trade, investment, and infrastructure.

During the Spring Festival in 2023, the national railways have delivered a total of 415 million tons of goods

According to the National Railway Group, rail transport?keeps safe, stable, and orderly during the spring festival, presenting a booming trend for both passengers and goods. According to the statistics,?it has delivered a total of 415 million tons of goods and continued to maintain efficient. The China-Europe freight train, the Western Land-Sea New Corridor train and the China-Laos rail trains operates smoothly. A total of 1,802 China-Europe freight trains have been operated and 190,000 TEUs have been dispatched, a year-on-year increase of 14% and 23% respectively; 74,100 TEUs have been sent by the Western Land-Sea New Corridor train, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%; China-Laos railways have sent 325,000 tons of cross-border goods, an increase of 282% year-on-year. It has effectively guaranteed the stability of the international industrial chain supply chain.

China-Europe freight trans has operated more than 1,000 trains in a single month for 33 consecutive months

In January this year, a total of 1,410 freight trains were operated, transporting 147,000 TEUs of goods, a year-on-year increase of 6% and 13% respectively.The comprehensive heavy container rate reached 100%. Since May 2020, the China-Europe freight train has operated more than a thousand trains in a single month for 33 consecutive months. Railway departments strengthened the organization of international intermodal transport, further improved the quality of China-Europe freight trains, and effectively guaranteed the safe and smooth international supply chain.

According to CCTV News, to better meet the demand of international intermodal transport and adapt to the change of the freight source structure of the train, China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. has implemented the measures of expanding the capacity and increasing the tonnage of the China-Europe freight trains. In January, China-Europe trains achieved remarkable results in terms of capacity expansion and tonnage increase, with 757 trains departing, with a full capacity rate of 83%, and the volume of container cargo shipments further increased. At the same time, the railway department strengthens the transportation organization of the return train and requires the rail companies at ports to strengthen the communication with the foreign counterparts. It is suggested that they should avoid breaking up the train formation at the overseas stations when reloading, and use the original formation as much as possible to run the return train , so the chassis can be in full circulation. In January, the China-Europe return train opened 653 trains, up 9% year on year.

"Europe-Wuhan-Hong Kong" multimodal transport channel opens

On February 14, some test containers loading with cargoes of a cosmetic brand arrived in Hong Kong via the "China-Europe freight train (Wuhan) + trucking”, which means "Europe-Wuhan-Hong Kong" multimodal transport channel was officially launched for the first time. These?cosmetics was loaded from Duisburg, Germany, and arrived in Wuhan via Alashankou, and they were delivered directly to their destination in Hongkong by trucks. An efficient and convenient multimodal logistics channel has been unlocked for Hong Kong to connect with Europe.

During the trip, constant-temperature reefer containers have been?put into use, and the service team followed up the tracking and temperature of the cargo through the remote monitoring system?all along the process. At the same time, in order to ensure the shipment,?workers?do?their?best to organize the transportation of return containers, the deployment, the arrangement of unloading, the coordination of storage yards, and the trailers, etc.?

In 2022, goods value of Alashankou Comprehensive Bonded Zone reached 19.53 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 192.5%

The Alashankou Comprehensive Bonded Zone has given full play to its role, increasing the opening of ports and helping to promote the development of foreign trade.According to Alashankou Customs statistics, the import and export value of the Alashankou Comprehensive Bonded Zone will reach 19.53 billion yuan in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 192.5%. Recently, in the designated monitoring site for imported meat in the Alashankou Comprehensive Bonded Zone, a batch of frozen beef weighing 21.93 tons from Belarus was planned to be shipped to Chengdu after passing the customs inspection and quarantine. Among the goods delivied via Alashankou Comprehensive Bonded Zone this year, the goods such as gold concentrate, linseed, and sunflower seeds have shown a significant growth trend, and the outbound goods are mainly batteries, mobile phones and transformers.

Raohe Port has supervised 626 tons of goods since the beginning of this year

According to the "Heilongjiang Daily" report, since the opening of the Raohe Port on January 11 this year, goods pass through here dramatically increased. As of February 7, a total of 626 tons of goods were imported and exported at the port. Among them, 299 tons of imported goods include tungsten ore, birch boards, poplar boards and ice cream boards; 327 tons of exported goods mainly include toys, daily necessities, auto parts and heating facilities. Raohe Port is an international passenger and cargo transportation port approved by the State Council of China in April 1989. It is also the only port open to the outside world in Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province. The port is designed with an annual cargo volume of 250,000 tons and a daily passenger capacity of 400. It is a bridge between China, Russia and Eurasian land-sea transport and a bond linking regional economic cooperation in Northeast Asia.