Container transport prices down on the rail connection to Siberia

31.01.2007Printable version

 

Container transports on the Trans-Siberian railway are expected to recover as prices have fallen by around 35 per cent due to a decision made by the Russian tariff authorities.

 

Customers have expressed major interest in transports to and from China and Korea along the Trans-Siberian railway and it is anticipated that volumes will have picked up by the end of the year once the shipments have been rerouted.

 

Years of continuous growth in container transports on the Trans-Siberian railway stalled at the beginning of 2006 when the Russian tariff authorities almost doubled the charges, resulting in the collapse of cargo volumes from around 100,000 TEU in 2005 to some 8,000 TEU in 2006.

 

The Russians’ decision to lower prices will probably increase transports both on the traditional route via the port of Vostochny and the land route between China and Europe.

 

The railway is significantly faster than the sea route – transportation by rail takes at best only half as long as the month by sea.