News / China shippers opting for containers by rail as volumes hit monthly record

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Chinese rail freight hit a new monthly record in June, with containerised volumes surging, as the country looks to regain economic momentum hit by the pandemic.

According to social media, state-run operator China Railway volumes for June hit 332m tonnes, a 6.1% year-on-year increase, but the operator said it was containerised volumes that showed a real surge.

Local media reported domestic volumes up 18% compared with June 2023, with China-Europe volumes up 11%, sending more than 180,000 teu to Europe.

The growth is a positive sign for a government purportedly eyeing rail freight as a main route out of post-Covid economic malaise by increasing its number of European customers. That focus has seen it tout Middle Corridor Eurasia services as an alternative to air freight during the Red Sea crisis.

Rates seen by The Loadstar on offer from Chinese forwarders puts the average cost of a 20ft container to Europe at around $8,000, for services departing from Central China, and around $9,400 from east coast cities.

Less-than-container-loads are being charged at around $295 per cu metre, according to one quote to The Loadstar, while Davies Turner was advertising a rate of $280.

If the numbers are accurate, there is certainly increased interest in using the Middle Corridor route, some 60 container trains so far this year having taken advantage of a sea-rail offering that uses box ships to cross the Caspian.

However, there appears some uncertainty over the transit time via the Caspian, with Chinese media claiming it was just 12 days from China to Istanbul.

But Maersk’s Central Asia & Caucasus region business development manager, Irakli Danelia, told The Loadstar he would expect a service from Xian to Istanbul to take 20-23 days.

One forwarder, whose quotes The Loadstar saw, suggested it could make the journey from Xian to London in 17 to 19 days.