Source: Slower growth rate of intermodal transport in Europe at the beginning of the year - IntermodalNews IntermodalNews

Slower growth rate of intermodal transport in Europe at the beginning of the year

Interim-adversary transport in Europe in the first quarter grew by 5.14%, which is a slower pace than forecast, the International Union of Combined Road and Rail Transport (UIRR) said. The slight slowdown in the development of combined transport was mainly influenced by the war in Ukraine.

Photo: Pixabay

"The war in Ukraine has affected the European economy in an unpredictable way since February. The UIRR sentiment index for the upcoming 12-month period has been lowered to "slightly positive" as it is speculated that the economic turmoil caused by the war may be partially offset by a revived modal change due to the higher energy efficiency of combined transport, which will be useful in making Europe independent of oil and gas imports from Russia, commented Ralf-Charley Schultze, President of UIRR.

Sanctions and covid

The most important factor that had an impact on the slower growth rate of intermodal transport in the first quarter were the sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia and Belarus and the counter-sanctions introduced by these countries. As a result of these political decisions, trade between the EU and the sanctioned countries has decreased. In addition, rail transport between Russia and Ukraine was blocked, which resulted in the blocking of the New Silk Road branch. China's "zero tolerance" policy towards covid-19 also turned out to be a big problem, which caused the suspension of work of some factories and ports in China. As a result, the export of containerized cargo from this country to the EU has decreased. However, the UIRR forecasts that record high fuel prices and therefore road transport costs will reduce its intermodal competitiveness, which will encourage some companies organizing cargo transport within the EU to transfer them to intermodal transport. This may be a factor conducive to the growth of this industry in the coming quarters.

Author: Łukasz Kuś