China-Europe freight trains weekly commentary（Dec.19-Dec.25)

China-Europe?freight?train?operation?updates (Week 52)

In the 52nd week, the domestic epidemic control policy was optimized and the Covid virus spread over.?Along with it, extreme weather, such as rain, snow and strong wind in winter, challenged the smooth operation of the China Europe train. The transloading time at port was extended, and the delays at departure terminals vary at some degrees, but the overall transport efficiency remained good. In the direction of the Europe-bound route, the average T/T from Chengdu, Chongqing, Yiwu and Xi'an to Malaszewicze is 12-16 days, and to Duisburg and Hamburg is 21-26 days. The average delay at departures such as Chengdu and Chongqing are 7-10 days, and that at Xi'an is 2-3 days; In the direction of the Russian-bound line, the average T/T from Zhengzhou, Zengcheng, Chengdu, Chongqing, Yiwu, Ganzhou Guiyang and other stations to Moscow is 11-16 days. The outbound train via Erenhot takes longer, and it takes more than 20 days to Moscow.

With the approaching holidays at the end of the year, cargo volume from factoies gradually decreased, and the transport market began to enter the off-season . The freight rate of the European line fluctuated steadily overall, the demand did not improve significantly, and the spaces of January are partially available; The overall demand of the Russian line shows a downward trend. The spot rates at each platform drop slightly, with a drop of about US $300. However, the supply of spaces is still tight when most of them will be scheduled to early February at South China ; The market of Central Asia trains is also gradually cooling down, and insiders say it is expected to slacken from February-August as usual.?

There is no significant change in the leasing price of containers this week. the rental fee at inland areas has risen by about $200-300 each, as they need to be transferred from coastal areas. Many containers were stranded in yards and terminals of Russian, therefore, the container leasing companies began to restrict the flow of containers from China and Europe to Russia, to avoid the empty outbound flow.?

In the 52nd week, the number of drivers infected with COVID-19 increased rapidly. Many trucking enterprises in eastern and southern China said that they had encountered a shortage of drivers. At present, domestic trucking prices are basically the same as those in the previous two weeks. However, it is expected to rise after the New Year's holiday and climb to a peak on January 10.

Many readers from different fields, such as freight forwarding, rail transportation, road transportation, container leasing, participated in our survey "How does the epidemic affect us? ", The results show that 80% of the employees have been infected by COVID-19 up to now, and more than 50% of them need to work from home. Under the impact of the epidemic, people have different attitudes towards the future development of the industry: 16% of readers think that the industry is expected to recover rapidly, 27% of readers think that the industry will remain depressed for a long time in the future, and 55% of readers say that the industry will have a period of shock and adjustment after repeated outbreaks.

Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan To Give 20% Discounts For Using Eastern INSTC Rail Routes?

Russian Railways (RZD) , together with the railways of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran, has decided to grant reduced container-kilometer rates in 2023 for using the infrastructure of the eastern route of the North-South international transport corridor that links Russia with countries in the Caspian basin, the Persian Gulf and Central, South and Southeast Asia.Special rates in the amount of US$0.15/TEU-km (gross container weight up to 24 tonnes), US$0.18/TEU-km (gross container weight over 24 tonnes) and US$0.24/TEU-km will be in effect on the railways of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.

It was reported that RZD would introduce a 20% discount in 2023 for export-import container shipments through border crossings between Russia and Kazakhstan. The discount will be in effect for all of next year on the condition that the freight also proceeds across the Bolashak-Serhetyaka crossing between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.The effect of this will be to give incentives to increase both Russian multilateral trade along these routes.?

TransContainer?provides?new route for CIS countries to Vietnam

TransContainer has developed a new multimodal service between Russia and the CIS countries and Vietnam via the ports of Vostochny and Chinese port of Nansha. Now the service is up and running once every two weeks.

Export cargo from various regions of Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is first collected at the Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company's terminal (VSC), then shipped by sea to China's Nansha Port.Finally,be deliveried to Vietnam's Haiphong & Ho Chi Minh Port. It is reported that TransContainer makes transportation arrangements in relation to the railway and the sea part of the route and provides its own equipment.From the VSC terminal to the destinations in Vietnam?it?takes 25 days and they also provide return?service?for import deliveries，says TransContainer.?

China eases cross-border freight curbs at land ports to boost trade amid zero-Covid policy exit

Multiple Chinese land ports have loosened coronavirus-related restrictions on cross-border freight transport after?China?announced?an orderly reopening of its land border crossings.

Erenhot, the largest land port on the China-Mongolia border and an important gateway for Europe-bound freight trains, removed all the curbs on cross-border rail operations this week.“All pandemic-related restrictions at the railway freight port have been cancelled, previously only containers can be shipped, now cargo in bulk are also allowed,”an Erenhot Customs official said.Previously, the restrictive measures were imposed on the types of import and export goods, means of packaging, transport, loading, unloading and lifting.

In Week 51, several border cities in Yunnan province – including Ruili and Mangshi – eased some restrictions on cross-border cargo freight.According to a WeChat notice released by the Ruili government, port control will be implemented in accordance with the pre-pandemic regulations, except for additional restrictions required by the state.

ILSTC Help Enterprises Resume Production for Export

After continuous improvements in epidemic control measures across the country, many provinces and cities in China have been rushing to overseas markets to seize foreign trade opportunities with their resumption of production.In Chongqing, the corridor economy,including the New International Land-sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) ,plays a pivotal role in connecting to the world. A few days ago, loaded with locally produced or assembled goods in Chongqing, the ILSTC trains were launched from three railway logistics hub stations, including Tuanjie Village Station, Xiaonanya Station, and Guoyuan Port. With the shipment of these trains, local enterprises in Chongqing can resume production quickly, providing a strong boost to exports along the channel to enter the overseas market.

With Chongqing as the operation center and the western provinces and cities as critical nodes, ILSTC adopts railway, highway, sea transportation, and other transport modes to reach all over the world southward, which is significantly shorter than the time to reach the sea via the eastern region.Up to November, the number of enterprises served by rail-sea combined transport trains in ILSTC (Chongqing-Qinzhou) increased by 21.3% yearly, while the number of operating trains grew by 20.58%. Data show that the total value of goods transported reached approximately 11.2 billion yuan (roughly 1.6 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 37.38% over the previous year.?

China utilizes blockchain to boost cross-border trade efficiency

In December, China applied blockchain technology to the entire process of international Intermodal for the first time, transporting goods from Chengdu, Sichuan to Vientiane, the capital of Laos."Blockchain technology can solve the mistrust issues, thanks to its decentralization, non-tampering, and traceability features," the digital finance unit of China Railway Chengdu Branch, said, adding that the information of all parties, including importers, exporters, freight forwarding agents, customs, etc., is open and transparent on the chain.?

Aided in part by blockchain-enabling measures, cargo trains between China and Europe have picked up speed in recent years. Statistics showed that it took three years and three months for the freight trains to make 200 trips, but only two months to increase from 800 to 1,000 trips.

Gansu Dingxi's first?eastbound?freight?train arrives

Days ago, Gansu Dingxi's first eastbound freight train arrived at Dingxi Railway Station.50 containers from Kazakhstan loaded with 1,350 tons of flaxseed was transported to Dingxi.It is reported that this eastbound train which full of flaxseed dispached from Kostanay, marking?the smooth?operation?of the first return journey from Kazakhstan to Dingxi.Since the beginning of this year, Dingxi has actively built an international train channel for Central Asia and Southeast Asia. They hope to?take advantages of China-Europe freight train to connect the existing resources such as characteristic agricultural products, new energy, and machinery manufacturing in the surrounding areas with the international market.

Customized services broaden the export path of new energy vehicles

In mid-December, 84 new energy vehicles?which comes from?the Yangtze River Delta region?departed from Ningbo Zhoushan Port. So far, the railway sector in the Yangtze River Delta has shipped a total of 910,000 commercial vehicles this year, of which new energy vehicles have seen the largest increase in shipments, and have successfully achieved batches of railway exports.

In recent years, with the industry shifting and upgrading in the Yangtze River Delta region, the production capacity of new energy vehicles has accounted for 38% of the country, and its export business has shown a high growth trend. The Yangtze River Delta Railway Department and relevant port departments jointly set up a team to actively connect with automobile OEMs,?and?recommend efficient,?convenient sea-rail combined transport logistics solutions to ensure safe and fast?delivery?of new energy vehicles.