The impact of strong winds at the Dostyk has continued to increase in recent days. The waiting time has been extended, resulting in a backlog of trains at the port. More efforts have been made to ensure the smooth flow of cargoes by resetting the schedules and to speed up the reloading process. However, due to the long queue, it is impossible to handle all the containers according to the order of arrival. In this case, some later arrived ones could be reloaded first.

According to the data this week, theT/T for all the freight trains has been extended: in the direction of Europe, the T/T from domestic stations to Malaszewicze is about 13 days, and the slower ones took up to 20 days; the T/T from domestic terminals to Duisburg and Budapest is about 20-25 days. In the direction of Russia, it took about 15-23 days from inland China to Elektrougli, and the longest recorded to be more than 30 days.

In 2024, the maintenance on some European section speeds up , and it is expected that it will not be completed until September this year. During this period, some section will be intermittently closed, which may affect the who trip, especially the lines to Hamburg, Duisburg and Neuss.

The supply of spaces and freight rates for each route are as follows:

European route:

WB: The supply of space is sufficient, and the price remains stable with little fluctuations. Spaces at express trains dispatched from Xian have been fulled booked, while those on ordinary trains from Chengdu and Chongqing are also very popular with a few plans available at the late March.

EB:In March, the spot freight rates for trains returning to Europe from destinations such as Chongqing, Changsha, Hefei, and Zhengzhou remained unchanged. The difference is that the SOC prices for return trips on platforms such as Xi'an and Jinan have increased, with biggest hike reaching $750 per container. The supply of space is relatively tight, especially those on the Xi'an and Yiwu platforms.

Russian route: 

The overall volume  is small , which lowered the demand as well. In March, shippers will find much spaces on platforms such as Zengcheng, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Shenyang  and the price are quite competitive compared with ocean transport. As the sanctions on Russia have been further strengthened, some agents  have been included in the sanctions list. There is no accurate news that any problems have been caused as insiders generally worry about collection of payment for goods in transit.

Central Asia route: 

In March,  schedules of freight trains bound for Central Asia are full with a large planned volume. In the early and mid of the month, there will be available space for shipments to Tashkent, Almaty, Poti, and Tbilisi. All the LCL containers bound for Tashkent from Zhengzhou have been fully filled, left with spaces available for full containers. 

Article source: Cargo Talk