China-Europe freight trains weekly commentary（Apr.17-Apr.23)

China-Europe?freight?train?operation?updates（Week?17）

This week, the China-Europe freight train operated smoothly and all the handling at ports remained unobstructed. The average trans loading time of Alashankou is 3 days, that of Khorgos is 4 days, and that of Manzhouli is about 6 days. There is relatively little data on the arrival of destinations along the European route this week, with a T/T of about 12 days from Xi'an to Malaszewizce and 22 days to Duisburg; In the direction of the Russian route, the transit time from Zengcheng and Ganzhou to Moscow is about 17 days, while the T/T from Xi'an to St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg is about 19 days.

According to the freight forwarder, the freight rate in the European direction from terminals like Chongqing and Zhengzhou in May were basically the same as last week, while there was a general downward trend in other regions. In May, the spaces at Yiwu were reduced by $100, Chengdu by $500, and Wuhan by $300. The spot market rate in Xi'an remains low. with general prices from major two ports unchanged but the spaces on express train has increased by $200 on the original basis. Recently, Chengdu has reduced some of its European route plans and shifted its scheduling towards direct customers, resulting in tight supply. Xi'an and Zhengzhou are relatively abundant. In the direction of the Russian line, the overall supply of spaces is sufficient, and there were still surplus ones in early May. The rate from most train platforms have dropped to the range of $5000- $6000, a decrease of about 15%.

In the 17th week, the overall container leasing price remained stable, with prices at some European sites continuing to decline to $300, almost returning to ore-pandemic levels. However, due to the reduction of platforms and the cancellation of subsidies, the decrease in container rental prices on the European line has not caused any fluctuations in shipping costs. At the same time, the prices of containers on the Russian route are increasing, with an overall increase of $100- the rental price for Qingdao-Moscow fluctuates around $1000, while the price for Guangzhou where they suffered from the shortage of containers is higher than $1300. Industry insiders estimate that container prices for Moscow will continue to rise. The upcoming May Day holiday will increase passenger traffic which will lead to the pressure on the?freight transportation, which will affect the efficiency of trailers. In addition, trailers can still be arranged normally from this week to the holidays, with little price change. The prices of trailers from East and South China to Xi'an have significantly increased.

Recently, domestic and international exhibitions have boomed and the visitors have reported that there has been a very high traffic volume and strong market demand this year. Among them, there are many inquiries in Central Asia, which is considered a hot spot for increasing cargo volume.

The China-Laos Railway has been in operation for more than 500 days，with a total of 18.84 million tons of cargo transported

According to statistics, as of April 18, 2023, the China-Laos Railway has been?operation for 502 days. The cumulative cargo volume of the whole line is 18.84 million tons. Among them, 14.63 million tons of goods were sent by the domestic section, 4.21 million tons were sent by the foreign section, and 3.7 million tons of cross-border goods were transported.Since the beginning of this year, production demand has stabilized and rebounded, and the freight volume of the China-Laos Railway has achieved steady growth. The average daily shipment of goods is 56,000 tons, an increase of 180% over the same period last year, and the average daily cross-border cargo transport is 12,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 260%.

China-Europe freight train services grow 15% YoY in Q1 2023

The China-Europe freight train services experienced significant expansion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, as per official data released by the China State Railway Group Co, Ltd. The figures showed that the number of China-Europe freight train services increased by 15 per cent year-on-year (YoY) during this period.The freight trains handled around 450,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods between January and March, as per the data, indicating a 28 per cent increase from the corresponding period of the preceding year.In March alone, the number of China-Europe freight train trips skyrocketed by 31 per cent YoY to 1,488. A YoY increase of 52 per cent was observed as the trains carried a total of 162,000 TEUs of goods.

The China-Europe freight trains have been in operation since 2011, providing a secure and dependable channel between Asia and Europe. They have transported more than 50,000 types of goods, including clothing, according to media reports.（By?Fibre2fashion）

Heilongjiang runs 1st China-Europe express bearing domestic commercial vehicles

Heilongjiang Province saw the departure of the first China-Europe?freight?trains that carried domestically made commercial vehicles, adding another route to China's increasingly expanding international logistics channels that facilitate exports.

According to China Railway Harbin Group Co,the train, with 55 containers bearing 165 commercial vehicles, left the Harbin International Container Center Station during the day and headed for Europe via the Manzhouli port.The company said that it has taken measures such as priority loading for the train to ensure its smooth operation. The train is expected to arrive at its destination in just 15 days.Products carried on the train are worth about 33 million yuan ($4.8 million), the highest freight value among all China-Europe?freight?trains that ran from Heilongjiang this year.?

A second train to carry domestic cars has started loading and is scheduled to start operation next week. It will carry more car models with more frequent transport batches, the company disclosed, adding that it is expected to achieve normalized export transportation in the future.(By Global Times)

"Europe-Wuhan-Taiwan" rail-sea multimodal?service?launched

On April 19, a test container transported by the China-Europe freight train (Wuhan) was sent from Wuhan to Keelung, Taiwan，marking the "Europe-Wuhan-Taiwan" rail-sea multimodal transport is officially launched.

This batch of goods was loaded and departed from Duisburg, Germany, and arrived in Wuhan?via?Alashankou. It was forwarded to Ningbo through the domestic trade railway, and then directly shipped from Ningbo Port to Keelung, Taiwan. The opening of the new multimodal transport service provides a new logistics solution for the transportation between Europe and Taiwan, and realizes the efficient integration and connection of the Maritime Silk Road and the Land Silk Road.

Shaanxi's first new energy vehicle export train to Central Asia departs

On April 21, a train loaded with 261 BYD new energy vehicles produced by local enterprises in Shaanxi slowly departed from Xi'an International Port Station, heading west all the way to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. This train departs from Xi'an International Port Station, exits the country through Khorgos Port, transfers at Kazakhstan's Atengkoli Station, and finally arrives in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. The whole journey takes about 20 days. This is the first new energy vehicle export train of the Central Asia Railway Express launched in Shaanxi. It has opened up a safe, efficient and convenient international logistics channel to help domestically produced vehicles go to the world.

Trains?pass through?Manzhouli Railway Port in a single day hits a record high

On April 18, as the last imported coal train entered the Manzhouli Railway Port Broad Gauge Arrival and Departure Station, 20 Russia?bound?trains?were transported in a single day, 6 export cargo trains were sent, and the number of import and export cargo trains in a single day hit a record record high. From the beginning to April 18, the import volume of Manzhouli Railway Port reached 5.2318 million tons, an increase of 2.0427 million tons year-on-year, an increase of 64%.

Since the beginning of this year, a total of 1.5246 million tons of coal has been imported via the Manzhouli Railway Port in 21807 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 134.1 million vehicles, or 936,800 tons; a total of 19,171 vehicles of iron ore concentrates have been imported, a total of 1.3393 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 9313 vehicles, a total of 649,600 tons. The rapid movement of imported raw materials contributed.