Kazakhstan’s national railway company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), has announced that the new Zhetysu container terminal in Almaty will receive its first container train on June 10. The train departed from the joint Kazakh-Chinese cargo terminal in Xi’an, China, on June 1.
The Zhetysu terminal is set to become Almaty’s largest container hub for the consolidation and distribution of Chinese goods, handling cargo transported by both rail and road. It will offer comprehensive logistics services, including warehousing, customs clearance, and door-to-door delivery on a “first and last mile” basis.
Strategically located at the intersection of major international transport routes, Zhetysu is expected to play a key role in facilitating cargo movement along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), a growing trade corridor connecting China and Europe via Kazakhstan.
Strategic Synergy with Xi’an Terminal
The terminal will operate in coordination with the Kazakh-Chinese terminal in Xi’an, which became operational in February 2024. That facility has an annual handling capacity of 133,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), significantly boosting bilateral trade and transit freight volumes.
In related news, KTZ reported that the 100,000th container, measured in TEU, has now departed from Xi’an along the TITR. The train, comprising 50 containers, is carrying electronics, furniture, and consumer goods bound for European markets.
