A number of important events occurred in the Azerbaijani transport sector in May 2017:
A delegation headed by Javid Gurbanov, chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC, met with officials of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in May, which is of great importance in China's rail freight traffic.
The Chinese side expressed its desire to take advantage of the transport and logistics capabilities of Azerbaijan, which has an advantageous geographical location.
China can use the transport corridors that pass through Azerbaijan to transport goods produced in the northern part of China to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, including Turkey and Georgia.
Gurbanov presented detailed information on the Trans-Caspian international transport route, transport-logistical capabilities of Azerbaijan, including the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which will ensure the shortest route between Europe and Asia.
Gurbanov also added that Azerbaijan is ready to render any assistance to the Chinese side in the transportation of goods through Azerbaijan and invited the delegation of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to visit Azerbaijan to discuss these issues.
Some 87.9 million tons of cargo were carried by Azerbaijani modes of transport in January-May 2017 or by 2.1 percent more than in January-May 2016, the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee’s report said.
According to the report, the volume of non-oil cargo increased by 4.8 percent and reached 65.5 million tons.
Around 79.9 percent of the total volume of goods transported accounted for the private sector during the reporting period.
Some 61.6 percent of total cargo were transported by vehicles, 27.9 percent - by pipelines, 6.8 percent - by railway, 3.6 percent - by ships, 0.1 percent – planes.
Some 768.2 million people used passenger transport in January-May 2017, which is by 2.5 percent more than in January-May 2016. Most of the passengers were transported by vehicles (87.1 percent), metro (12.7 percent) and the rest part – other modes of transport.
Automobile transport takes the lion share in the transport field of the country. Some 54.2 million tons of cargo were transported by vehicles in January-May 2017, which is by 2.3 percent more than in January-May 2016.
Some 668.9 million people were transported by vehicles in January-May 2017, which is by 1.9 percent more compared to January-May 2016. Some 96 percent of the passengers were transported by buses and 4 percent - by cars.
Freight turnover by vehicles increased by 2.2 percent during the reporting period, while passenger turnover - by 2 percent.
Some 6 million tons of cargo were transported by railway in January-May 2017 or by 2.9 percent more than in January-May 2016.
On average per day, the number of loaded carriages made up 360 and unloaded - 419.
Average daily load of carriages in the northern direction is 13,700 tons, in western direction - 5,200 tons and in southern direction – 900 tons.
Around 3.185 million tons of cargo were transported by ships in January-May 2017 or by 47.7 percent more than in January-May 2016. Some 47.9 percent of the transported goods accounted for oil cargo. The volume of goods handled in Azerbaijani ports amounted to 4.37 million tons in January-May 2017.
The volume of international transit cargo handled in the country’s ports reached 95.8 percent. As of June 1, 2017, 123,000 tons of import cargo left in the ports for transportation.
Some 17.48 million tons of oil were transported via main oil pipelines in January-May 2017. Some 78.3 percent or 13.68 million tons of transported oil accounted for BTC.
Some 2.69 million tons of transit oil were transported via the BTC in January-May 2017.
Gas transportation via main gas pipelines made up 9.78 billion cubic meters in January-May 2017 or by 11.5 percent more than in January-May 2016. Some 32.7 percent of the transported gas accounted for the South Caucasus Pipeline. Some 3.2 billion cubic meters of gas were transported via this pipeline.
Some 784,800 passengers were transported by air transport in January-May 2017 which is by 25.2 percent more than in January-May 2016. Some 0.1 percent of shipment by this kind of transport accounted for the private sector.
Some 97.5 million people were transported by metro increasing by 6.3 percent in January-May 2017 compared to January-May 2016.
Some 17.13 million tons of cargo were transported through the Eurasian transport corridor TRACECA (Europe-Caucasus-Asia) in January-April 2017, which is by 9.1 percent more than in the same period of 2016, the committee said.
Some 60.2 percent of the total volume of transported cargo accounted for vehicles, 26.4 percent – railway, 13.4 percent – ships.
Some 19.7 percent of transported cargo accounted for transit cargo.