BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 22. The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, or Middle Corridor) transported 2.5 million tons of cargo in early December 2023, which is twice as much as in the same period of 2022, Trend reports.
A source in Azerbaijan Railways CJSC said that 1.5 million tons of cargo were transported via TITR in 2022 and 2.256 million tons within 10 months of 2023.
According to the source, transportation along this route is currently going more from the west to the east than from the east, namely from China to the west.
"This tendency is connected with the fact that China is now actualized for freight transportation along the Southern Sea Route because in 2023, the freight rates of vessels will have fallen drastically. China nowadays prefers to transport freight not by land, which occupies the main part of the TITR, but by sea, rounding the Eurasian continent from the south, explained the representative of Azerbaijan Railways.
He did not exclude that such a tariff offer of freight carriers for China as a pilot measure will be in effect for about a year.
"The low pilot price for China's freight cargo will be temporary. I am sure that the Middle Corridor will be more utilized for freight traffic in 2024, which is currently minimal," the informed source said.
He stressed that currently the authorized bodies and companies of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia are discussing the improvement of conditions to attract more cargo from the East to the TITR.
"Among the stimulating measures, the possibility of providing state support for the transportation of different types of cargo along this route is being considered," he said.
Moreover, consultations with Maersk (a Danish shipping and logistics company) and other companies on improving the efficiency of transportation and analyzing the situation with cargo transportation in the coming 3-5 years are actively underway.
Kazakhstan's Aktau approved a five-year roadmap for the synchronized expansion of the TITR in November 2022 after identifying bottlenecks, and the initial investment in its implementation is estimated at €6 billion.
Critical measures include expanding the receiving capacity of the Caspian ports of Aktau, Kuryk (in Kazakhstan), Alyat, and Govsan (in Azerbaijan).
Other measures include the completion of some railroad sections (mainly in Kazakhstan), work to increase the number of rolling stock on the South Caucasus section (included in the Azerbaijan Railways strategy), measures on digitalization, integration of information systems, and legal aspects.
The resolution of these issues should lead to an increase in cargo transit through TITR to 10 million tons per year by 2025.
The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, or Middle Corridor, is an international transport corridor that runs through China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea area, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and further to Türkiye and European countries.