In the 12th week, the China-EU freight train operated steadily and the overall efficiency improved. The four boarder ports are well functioning. The average handling time of Alashankou and Khorgos is 2-5 days, 3 days in Manzhouli and 7 days in Erenhot respectively. In west bound to European, the transit time is 12-15 days from major stations such as Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Yiwu to Malaszewicze, and the transportation time to Duisburg and Hamburg is 18-20 days. In WB to Russian, 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 11th-26th) 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.

Article source: Cargo Talk