At the Kazakhstan Transport and Logistics Forum, which was held on March 5-6 in Astana, Alibek Utegenov, Executive Director for Marketing and Logistics of the Kuryk Port, presented the development strategy of the Kuryk port in the system of international corridors.
The port of Kuryk occupies a total area of 67.5 hectares, with four berths, including two existing universal ones, which serve as the main hubs for rail and road cargo. The design capacity of the port is 6 million tons, and the actual capacity reaches 2.5 million tons, taking into account the available number of ferries.
There is a regular ferry service between the ports of Kuryk and Baku (Alyat) with a transit time of about 18 hours. The ferries can accommodate up to 52 railway carriages or up to 44 heavy vehicles.
Despite challenges such as fluctuating cargo volumes, the Port of Kuryk has demonstrated significant growth, tripling its activity over the past three years. While export-import operations by rail reached 820 thousand tons, the share of road transport was 272 thousand tons for imports and 411 thousand tons for exports, which ensured a 15% growth rate.
Addressing the challenges of falling sea levels, the port will begin dredging work this year and plans to upgrade by 2025.
In the future, the port of Kuryk intends to expand its capabilities through the construction of berthing facilities for large cargo with the goal of increasing annual capacity by 500 thousand tons. In addition, a project is underway to build a new grain terminal, which is expected to handle about 1,000,000 tons per year.
In conclusion, Alibek Utegenov assured that the Port of Kuryk remains committed to improving its services and infrastructure, ready to meet growing needs and make a significant contribution to regional logistics.