China-Europe freight trains weekly commentary(Apr.17-Apr.23) 25/04/22

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Source: China-Europe freight trains weekly commentary(Apr.17-Apr.23) (linkedin.com)

 

China-Europe freight trains weekly commentary

 

(Apr.17-Apr.23)

 

China-Europe freight train operation updates(Week 17)

To make comparison, we collected and checked the data from February 16th, when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began. According to the chart, we found that the delay of Zengcheng and Yiwu stations fluctuated greatly, while the rest were relatively stable. It seemed that there is an overall drop in delay since Week 15. Besides, Transloading terminals run efficiently. The shortage of vehicles and wagons in Khorgos has eased. Mala and Kaliningrad also saw a decrease in the number of delays , with an average of less than 2 days.

However, affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and a new wave of epidemic in Shanghai and Shenzhen, some scheduled trains have been cancelled or postponed. As a result, the number of trains has decreased dramatically and freight rate dropped as well According to some forwarders, rate in March in 2022 has dropped around 40% compared with the peak time of last year, narrowing the gap with ocean freight.

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To evade sanctions, Middle Corridor or Chinese agents ?

Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the volume of China-Europe freight trains passing through Russia has decreased sharply. Some European customers are trying to turn to the Middle Corridor or use Chinese agents to "bypass sanctions".

Yan Chao, general manager of Sichuan New Silk Road multimodal transport Co., Ltd., said that the decline in demand for the China-Europe freight line was mainly affected by two reasons: the impact of multiple rounds of sanctions imposed by EU countries on Russia and the anti-epidemic closure of Shanghai and other port cities in China. In March and April, the export market continued to be depressed, which greatly affected the railway westbound volume. " "Some customers have turned to the middle corridor, but the proportion is very small. This route needs time to prove that it is feasible."

At the same time, most multinational freight forwarders withdrew from the Russian freight market shortly after the war began, and Chinese freight forwarders took over the remaining railway business from European shippers. Yan Chao said that "some European freight forwarders are still providing services" and they chose to "use Chinese freight forwarders to bypass sanctions".

A Qingdao freight forwarder commented on social media that although China Europe railway is suffering from a "crisis of trust", his company "has still obtained four new customers from Poland, Lithuania and Hungary within two weeks". The fastest route is 15 days to Poland, 17 days to Germany, or 23 days to the rest of Europe.

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China-Europe freight train(Chang'an)updates (week 17)

China-Europe freight train(Chang'an has been maintaining regular operation. At present, 83 trains in total have arrived in Europe, including 22 in Duisburg, with an average overseas transit time of 14.6 days; 16 in Hamburg, with an average overseas transit time of 13.8 days; 13 in Rostock, with an average overseas transit time of 13.4 days; 16 in Malaszewicze, with an average overseas transit time of 7.3 days; 8 Budapest, with an average overseas transit time of 13.0 days; 4 for German Express (Neuss/Cologne), with an average overseas transit time of 11.5 days; 3 in Poznan, with an average overseas transit time of 8 days, and 1 in Tilburg, with an average overseas transit time of 12.1 days.

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China-Europe freight train (Changjiang) runs smoothly in April

A total of 13 China-Europe freight trains (Changjiang) have arrived at Hamburg/Duisburg. The average transit time to Hamburg recorded as 14-15 days, and to Duisburg 15-17 days. Wuhan Hanou International Logistics Co., Ltd. stated that China-Europe freight train (Changjiang) runs smoothly in April, with 13 westbound trains and 7 eastbound trains on journey.

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China-Europe freight train help transport raw materials for spring ploughing

As the weather gradually warms up, spring ploughing in the Northeast of China has started and the demand for agricultural materials has also increased. A custom-made train carrying nearly 1,300 tons of potassium chloride successfully arrived at Shenyang East Railway Station. After the transloading, this batch of potassium chloride will be sent to the main grain producing areas in Northeast China.

Since the beginning of this year, China-Europe freight train(Shenyang) has increased the transportation volume of imported potassium chloride to ensure a stable and smooth supply chain of imported fertilizer raw materials. As of April 20, freight trains in Shenyang has completed the import of 4,712 standard containers of potassium chloride this year, with a total cargo weight of 61,256 tons.

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The first cross-border freight train between Chengdu and Hanoi launched

Left from Shuangliu(Chengdu) International Intermodal Port , a train will make its journey via Pingxiang (Guangxi) Railway Port.

It will head southwards along the China-Vietnam Railway for five to seven days before arriving Hanoi.

The 40 containers fully loaded with about $4.9m (CNY32m) worth of aluminum profiles, produced by local company of Shuangliu, are carried by the first cross-border freight train from Chengdu to Hanoi.

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Liaoning Launches Intl. Freight Train between northern China and ASEAN Countries

The freight train services between the northern provinces of China and Laos would be of increasing vitality to boost multimodal transportation and regional trade in northeast Asia.

Wang Xiaodong of China Railway Shenyang Group Co., Ltd. said that the international freight train service rollout ushered in rail trade between China's northeast and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.

According to Chengtong Industrial Investment Co., Ltd. chairman Gao Zengli, the transborder train was expected to reach Laos within ten days, taking five to ten days less than those via the sea transport.

The official said that the new transportation services could successfully impede freight loss during transport and mitigate the cost and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in these challenging moment.

 

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Author: New Silk Road INtermodal (Sichuan)CO.,Ltd.

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