Baku, Azerbaijan, July 18
Trend:
Kazakhstan has started to supply flour to Afghanistan through the new railway route, the press service of Kazakhstan Railways JSC reported July 18.
A flour-laden train has been sent from Kostanay station to Afghanistan, and the train will pass through the territory of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, according to the report.
The length of the Kostanay-Bolashak-Serhetabad (Turkmenistan) route is more than 3,500 kilometers. The train includes more than 50 railcars carrying a cargo with the net weight of 3,300 tons.
"Kazakhstan holds a leading position in the world for the production of grain," acting Deputy Director General for Operations of KTZ-Freight transportation JSC Mukhtar Zhambulov said. "The main task of the railway is to ensure timely and high-quality transportation of agricultural products, including this strategic cargo. The development of transportation through the new route will increase the transit potential of Kazakhstan, reduce the turnover and accelerate the return of rolling stock by 2-2.5 times."
Some 4.2 million tons of grain have been exported since the beginning of this year, which is 56 percent more than last year. Some 1.2 million tons of flour have been transported, which is 8 percent more than last year.
The products of Kazakh agricultural manufacturers are sent mainly to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran.