ASTANA – Kazakhstan is expanding a network of terminals along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor. Kazakh Transport Minister Marat Karabayev announced this during a Nov. 26 government meeting.
Photo credit: primeminister.kz
According to Karabayev, Kazakhstan plans to build a terminal in the European part of the route.
In addition to the Xian terminal in China, a Kazakh terminal has been launched in the port of Poti in Georgia.
Kazakhstan and the Chinese company Lianyungang Port began the construction of a container hub in the port of Aktau. In the Kuryk port, the Abu Dhabi Port company is building the Sarzha multifunctional terminal.
From January to October, the volume of transportation via the TITR surged by 68% to 3.8 million tons. Container traffic grew 2.7 times, from 17,300 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) to 46,300 TEU. The amount of containers transported from China has surged by 25 times. The joint Kazakhstan-China port in Xian opened last year and made this much easier.
This year, an agreement was made with Chinese officials to expand the number of container trains from 400 to 3,000 per year by 2029.
The TEZ Customs system has been introduced to simplify customs procedures on the Kazakhstan-China border and reduce customs procedures from four hours to 30 minutes. These measures should increase the route’s capacity to 10 million tons annually and ensure its uninterrupted operation.
According to Karabayev, the North-South corridor is becoming increasingly important as traditional logistical routes worldwide shift. The corridor has a capacity of 10 million tons annually. This year’s freight volume totaled 1.8 million tons. Given the corridor’s potential, Karabayev stated that it is intended to extend its capacity to 20 million tons.
“In July, Kazakhstan signed a roadmap with Iran, Turkmenistan, and Russia to synchronously develop the eastern route of the North-South transport corridor for 2024-2025. To attract cargo flow along this corridor, Kazakhstan provided special tariff discounts of 50% on transit transportation,” he said.
