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On September 25, Kazakhstan and China held the first meeting of a joint working group on cargo transportation along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, connecting China and Europe via Central Asia and the Caucasus. According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport, the members agreed on the projected volumes of cargo transportation from China to Europe and in the opposite direction along the TITR until the end of 2029. Kazakhstan and China will increase the volume of cargo transportation along the TITR to 600 container trains per year in 2025 and 2026. In 2027, there will be 1,000 container trains, and in 2029, there will be 2,000. Given the increase in transit container trains, the Kazakh side has committed to ensuring the appropriate infrastructure in its Caspian ports to ensure timely transportation and prevent delays. At least 50,000 standard containers will be handled (transshipped) at Kazakh ports in 2025. An increase to 85,000 containers per year is expected for 2026-2029. According to Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport, in 2023, the volume of transit transportation between China and Europe through Kazakhstan amounted to 2.76 million tons, 65% more than in 2022 (1.7 million tons). Kazakhstan is now working to increase the transit capacity of the Aktau and Kuryk seaports. A container hub will be built in the port of Aktau, increasing transportation volume to 300,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) per year. A grain terminal will be launched in Kuryk's port later this year. Dredging of the Kuryk port is underway to ensure sufficient depth for ships to enter the harbor. Dredging works are also planned in the port of Aktau. Altogether, these measures will increase the throughput capacity of Kazakhstan’s ports by 10 million tons of cargo annually, to reach 30 million tons annually.
Kazakhstan’s national railways company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), has announced that KTZ Express (a subsidiary of KTZ), China’s Lianyungang Port, and Kazakhstan’s Aktau Sea Trade Port have signed the founding documents of a joint venture to construct a container hub in the port of Aktau. The documents were signed on September 20 in the Chinese city of Xi'an. The project has received support from the governments of Kazakhstan and China as part of China’s Belt and Road initiative. The project will strengthen Kazakhstan's position in the international logistics system. The planned container hub's location on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), or the Middle Corridor, will further increase the route's attractiveness and the volume of transit traffic. The Lianyungang Port is a longstanding partner of KTZ Express. Over the past ten years, they have implemented two joint projects: the Kazakh-Chinese terminal in the Port of Lianyungang and Khorgos Gateway, the largest dry port in Central Asia located on the Kazakh-Chinese border. Also on September 20, a container train departed along the TITR from Xi'an on the route Altynkol—Aktau (Kazakhstan)—Baku (Azerbaijan)—Poti (Georgia)—Burgas (Bulgaria)—Belgrade (Serbia)—Hamburg/Duisburg/Budapest. The heads of the railway administrations of China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia attended the departure ceremony. The train, consisting of 55 40-foot containers, was assembled at the Kazakh-Chinese Xi'an terminal. It will travel about 7,000 km to Baku in 8-11 days and then reach its final destination in Budapest in 25 days. The reduced delivery time was made possible by the cooperation of the railway and port administrations of the TITR member countries. The Kazakh-Chinese terminal in the dry port of Xi'an was opened in early 2024. Today, 30% of all container trains from China to Europe via Kazakhstan are formed in the dry port. According to KTZ, thanks to the terminal in Xi'an, cargo transit along the TITR increased 20-fold in the first eight months of this year compared to last year. The delivery time to Azerbaijan has been reduced to 11 days and to Georgia to 14 days.
A container train from China arrived last week in the port of Aktau on Kazakhstan’s Caspian coast. Kazakhstan’s national railway company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, announced that it was the 200th container train since the beginning of 2024. Last year, 11 container trains went through Aktau Port along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), known as the Middle Corridor. The Middle Corridor is an 11,000-kilometer international multimodal transport corridor that runs from China to Europe via Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Black Sea, and Turkey. The container train originally departed from the Kazakhstan terminal in Xi'an (China). From Aktau, it will depart for Azerbaijan on a barge across the Caspian Sea. The Kazakh terminal in Xi'an is an important logistics hub that consolidates cargo from various provinces of China. It has given a new impetus to the development of the TITR. In November 2023, Kazakhstan and China signed a number of agreements to develop the TITR, including a route for China-Europe container trains. Middle Corridor Multimodal Ltd. is a joint venture that was established at the Astana International Financial Center, bringing together the railway administrations of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to manage the route on a parity basis. The Kazakhstani terminal in the dry port of Xi'an opened in February 2024. It consolidates 40% of all container trains heading towards Kazakhstan, which has contributed to a significant increase in transit traffic along the TITR. Transportation along the TITR is growing steadily. In 2023, 2.8 million tons of cargo were transported along the route, compared to about 1.7 million tons in 2022. In the first seven months of 2024, the traffic totaled 2.56 million tons. By 2027, the capacity of the TITR is planned to increase to 10 million tons.
The United States supports Tajikistan’s participation in the Trans-Caspian Trade Route project, connecting China with Europe through the Caspian Sea, Asia, and the Caucasus. U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan Manuel Micaller spoke about this in an interview with Khovar.tj. “We continue to advocate for Tajikistan’s participation in the Trans-Caspian Trade Route, which will connect Central Asia with the Caucasus and European markets. Through the C5+1 diplomatic platform, which brings together the United States and our five Central Asian partners, we hope to facilitate closer cooperation with these partners and access to global markets,” Micaller noted. The Trans-Caspian Transport Route starts from Southeast Asia and China and runs through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and further to European countries. It aims to facilitate trade and economic cooperation by connecting major economic regions through railways, highways, and maritime routes. Transit time along the Trans-Caspian Route has been reduced from 38-53 days to 18-23 days. In 2024, this period is planned to be reduced to 14-18 days, and the journey through the territory of Kazakhstan from 6 to 5 days.
