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

China-Europe?freight?train?operation?updates（Week12）

In the 12th week, the China-EU?freight?train operated steadily and the overall efficiency improved. The four port?functions?normally. The average?handling time of Alashankou and Khorgos is 2-5 days, that of Manzhouli is 3 days, and that of Erenhot is 7 days. In the direction of the European route, the?T/T??from major stations such as Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Yiwu to?Malaszewicze is 12-15 days, and the transportation time to Duisburg and Hamburg is 18-20 days. In the direction of the Russian line, the train from Xi'an has maintained a good record, reaching 11 days at the earliest when it arrives in St. Petersburg; The train from Shenyang to St. Petersburg via Manzhouli?also performed well, with a?T/T?of 12 days for the entire journey, and 14-18 days from Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Guiyang to Moscow. In addition, the latest data shows that the entire journey from Hefei to Almaty takes only 9 days. Overall, the previously??suspension order?issued by China Railway??(March 11-26) did not have a significant impact on the operation of China-Europe?Express.

This week, all train platforms are open for?space?bookings in April. In addition to a small decline in individual?stations, the overall price fluctuation of?spaces on the European line is not significant. The price of the Xi'an platform has been adjusted significantly, with the price of the?space?from Xi'an to?Malaszewicze dropping by $400, and?that?from Duisburg dropping by $200. However, the?spaces on?the full-time express?from?Xi'an is in short supply, and the?spot?price is about 500 dollars higher than the average price?at the market. Industry insiders have reported that the Russian-bound?market is still weak,?where?the supply of?exceeded the?demand, and the spot freight rates continue to decline. Some routes have?seen?lower market freight rates than the contracted?rates.

This week,?container-leasing?prices fluctuated slightly, with an increase of US $50-100 per?container?for Russian outbound rental prices, with a maximum increase of about 10%. At the same time, the cost of returned?container is increasing. It is confirmed that the?subsidies?from some of the terminals have been cut down or even canceled?. According to market feedback, there are more inbound boxes and fewer inbound boxes, which is the main reason for the increase in rental prices.?

Unlike containers,?there is a continues?drop in trailer prices . The price of trailers?fro?Shanghai?to?Ningbo Xi'an is about 9500 yuan, the price of trailers?from?Guangzhou?to?Guiyang is about 10000 yuan, and the price of trailers?from?Xiamen?to?Guangzhou is about 5950 yuan.

China-Laos Railway completed the first "concentrated repair" to greatly improve transportation efficiency

China-Laos Railway has opened?and operated for more than a year.Due to heavy rainfall and high temperature, the Laos section has encountered problems such as line settlement, which has affected train safety.China Railway Kunming Bureau Group Co., Ltd. formed a construction convoy and rushed to Laos to carry out fine tamping of lines and turnouts and renovation of track beds.On March 14, the Laos section completed its first "concentrated repair" construction, which provided a guarantee for the safe and smooth operation of the railway and the increase of passengers and cargo.

Capital city launches first China-Europe freight train

Beijing sent its first China-Europe freight train on March 16. The train is carrying 55 40-foot containers of auto parts, apparel, home appliances and construction material to Europe. The train will enter Russia via Manzhouli Port before arriving in Moscow, with the 9,000-kilometer journey taking about 18 days.

This is Beijing's first China-Europe freight train as the city strives toward further opening-up and builds itself into an international consumption center with global influence.A man who in charge of organizing logistics for the service said "Currently, the company is aiming to operate at least four trains per month and at least 30 trains at the end of 2023. In 2024, we will aim to build the Jingping logistics hub into a regional logistics center for China-Europe freight train service in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region," As the BRI enters its 10th year of development, the China-Europe freight train, a flagship BRI project, is set to see explosive growth in 2023.(by Global Times )

The first China?Europe?freight?train?(Shandong-Dong Nai) arrives in Vietnam

On March 16, as the train slowly approached, the first China-Europe?freight?train?(Shandong-Dong Nai) successfully arrived at Zhanpan Station, Dong Nai Province, Vietnam. This train carried a total of 82 standard containers, fully loaded with medical glass bottles, chemicals and other goods. It was dispatched from the Multimodal Transport Center of the Shanghai Cooperation Demonstration Zone (China Railway Container Qingdao Central Station),?and?left?through Pingxiang Port in Guangxi.Then it was transferred?through Vietnamese Yen?Vien and arrived at the destination station after 10 days.

This train is an important achievement of Shandong Hi-Speed Group in actively responding to "Belt and Road" initiative.Open up the railway logistics channel between Shandong Province and RCEP member countries. It is an?effective?measure to serve and guarantee the full implementation of RCEP, and it is of great significance to promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and Vietnam.

Passenger and Cargo Volume at Sino-Russian Border Ports Increases Steadily

Suifenhe is located on the Sino-Russian border. Suifenhe Railway Port is an important railway port to Russia in Heilongjiang, and it is also one of the important entry and exit ports for China-Europe?freight?train. Here,various goods are continuously transported to all parts of China. Since the beginning of the year, the Suifenhe Railway Department has made every effort to improve the transportation efficiency. As of March 16, a total of 787 wide-gauge heavy vehicles were connected, and the import and export volume was 1.716 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 14%. At the same time, the Suifenhe highway port passenger inspection channel also resumed customs clearance in January this year.

The China-Kazakhstan logistics base has sent more than 5,000?freight?trains

Recently, under the supervision of Lianyungang Customs, a subsidiary of Nanjing Customs, a China-Europe freight train carrying 50 containers?departed?from the China-Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) logistics cooperation base to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other countries. As the first physical platform project of the "Belt and Road" international economic and trade cooperation, as of now, the China-Kazakhstan logistics base has delivered more than 5,000 China-Europe??freight?trains.

In 2014, the China-Kazakhstan logistics base was opened under the witness of the heads of China and Kazakhstan. After nearly ten years of development, this?base has realized the interconnection of ocean trunk lines, deep-water ports, inland water transport, international trains, and logistics stations. The transportation network of this?logistics base has covered Japan and South Korea, Southeast Asia, Central and West Asia, Mongolia and Europe.

The 1,700th the sea-rail intermodal train of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor opens?in?2023

On the morning of March 17, a sea-rail intermodal train loaded with goods such as Indonesian shortening and Vietnamese dried bananas departed from the Qinzhou Railway Container Center Station in Guangxi. It is expected to arrive at Chongqing Tuanjie Village Station in 2 days. So far, the 1,700th train of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor has successfully launched in 2023, completing the opening target for the first quarter 14 days ahead of schedule, with a year-on-year increase of 26%, and achieving a "good start" in the first quarter.