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Review of transport sector in Azerbaijan (January-October 2014)

Analysis Materials 9 December 2014 15:28 (UTC +04:00)

The diversification of the export trade and transport routes is one of the priorities of the Azerbaijani government. The matter rests in the implementation of "Silk Road" and "North-South" transport projects. From year to year, we observe the process of gathering the fragments of this giant transport puzzle into the whole picture, where Azerbaijan plays a key role as a transit country.

The international conference "Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway line - new opportunities in the development of the Silk Road" began in Baku on October 16. BTK is just a small part of the Great Silk Road. However, it is of great importance. After its commissioning, it will open a new, much shorter route for goods from China and Central Asia to Europe. The foreign trade experts can easily calculate and verify all the economic viability of this route. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan showed interest in its using. At the conference, the representatives of Afghanistan also expressed a desire to participate in the project.

The "North-South" project is also economically valuable. It will connect Russia and the North European countries with Iran with a further way to the Persian Gulf. Azerbaijan plays a role connecting the railways of Russia and Iran.

Heads of the railway administrations of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia met to discuss the acceleration of construction of the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara (Iran)-Astara (Azerbaijan) railway, which is a part of the International North-South Transport Corridor in October.

During the trilateral meeting, it was agreed that Iran and Russia are jointly to construct the Resht-Astara (Iran) railway.

The construction of the railway's section running from the city of Qazvin to the city of Rasht should be completed next year.

The construction of the bridge, as well as its eight-kilometer branch in the country will be financed and carried out by Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani transport sector transported 183.1 million tons of cargo in January-October 2014 or by 1.8 percent more than in the same period of 2013, according to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee's report.

According to a report, the volume of non-oil cargo increased by 3.1 percent, reaching 130.4 million tons in January-October.

Around 76.5 percent of the total volume of goods transported in January-October fell to the private sector.

Some 57.8 percent of all cargo were transported by vehicles, 28 percent - by pipelines, 9.8 percent - by railway and 4.4 percent - by ships.

Around 218 million tons of cargo were transported by the Azerbaijani transport sector in 2013, which is 3.4 percent more than in 2012.

Some 1.5 billion people used passenger transport in January-October, which is 5 percent more than in the same period of 2013. Most of the passengers were transported by vehicles (88 percent) and metro (11.8 percent).

Automobile transport takes the lion share in the transport field of the country. Some 105.7 million tons of cargo were transported by vehicles, which is 2.7 percent more than in January-October 2013. The volume of passenger transportation hit 1.3 billion people (a 5.2 percent growth). Some 96.2 percent of the passengers were transported by buses and 3.8 percent - by cars.

Freight turnover by vehicles increased by 2.8 percent during the reporting period, while passenger turnover - by 5.7 percent.

Some 17.9 million tons of cargo were transported by railway in January-October compared to 19.2 million tons in the same period of 2013.

The number of loaded carriages made up 598, in average per day and unloaded - 612. Average daily load of carriages in the northern direction is 21,700 tons and in western direction 6,500 tons and southern direction - 5,900 tons.

Around 8.1 million tons of cargo were transported by ships in January-October compared to 9.8 million tons in January-October 2013. All cargo accounted for international operations. The volume of goods handled in Azerbaijani ports amounted to 9.7 million tons in January-October.

Some 56.2 percent of cargo shipping fell to oil and oil products, while 43.8 percent on dry cargo. The volume of international transit cargo handled in the ports hit 85.9 percent. As of Nov. 1, around 145,300 tons of cargo left in the ports for import.

Some 38.6 million tons of oil (a 6.8 percent increase) were transported via main oil pipelines in January-October. During this period, 75 percent or 29.1 million tons of oil were transported via the BTC (data provided by the State Statistics Committee). Sangachal terminal transported 4.4 million tons of Turkmen oil via BTC in January-October.

Gas transportation via main gas pipelines made up 17.6 billion cubic meters (a 9.1 percent growth) in January-October. Some 29.9 percent of the transported gas fell to the South Caucasus Pipeline. Some 5.3 billion cubic meters of gas were transported via this pipeline.

Some 1.5 million passengers were transported by air transport in January-October which is 8.4 percent more than in the same period of 2013. Some 0.3 percent of shipment by this kind of transport fell to private sector.

Some 176 million people were transported by metro (a 4.3 percent growth) compared to January-October 2013.

Some 43.3 million tons of cargo were transported through the Eurasian transport corridor TRACECA (Europe-Caucasus-Asia) through the territory of Azerbaijan in January-September 2014 compared to 43.9 million tons in January-September 2013, the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee said.

Around 49.9 percent of the total volume of transported cargo fell to vehicles, 34.3 percent - railway and 15.8 percent - ships.

Some 229.5 million people were transported through the corridor in January-September, which is 7.7 percent more than in the same period of 2013.

Around 59 million tons of cargo were transported through the Azerbaijani segment of the corridor in 2013, which is 3.8 percent more than in 2012. Around 285.2 million people were transported as part of the corridor in 2013 or by 9.3 percent more than in 2012.

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