Central Asia

The Ministry of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Public Works of Afghanistan signed a protocol of intent on the project to build the Turgundi-Herat-Kandahar-Spin Boldak railway. The document was drawn up during the visit of the Kazakh delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin to Afghanistan and will form the basis for a further agreement on cooperation in the transport and logistics sectors.

In the first quarter of 2025, China demonstrated a confident strengthening of its position in the field of railway logistics, especially in the directions of Central Asia. The number of freight trains sent to the countries of the region increased by 25.5%, reaching 3,582 trains. A special event was the opening of a new regular route: on April 8, the first train X9011 departed from Wuhan to Tashkent, delivering 1,640 tons of steel, tiles and household appliances in 10 days. Hubei is actively increasing the export of auto components, electronics and agricultural products.

PSA International, DNV Singapore and Pacific International Lines (PIL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together to measure, report and verify carbon emissions and develop sustainable solutions to reduce emissions in the maritime and logistics industries. The signing took place on 24 March at PSA’s headquarters in Singapore.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Port of Rotterdam have signed an agreement to expand their partnership within the Green and Digital Shipping Corridor, launched in 2022. Since then, the initiative has brought together 28 container logistics players, promoting the use of sustainable fuels along the 15,000-kilometre route and implementing digital solutions. By 2030, the corridor aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from large container ships by 20-30% and accelerate the transition to paperless documentation.

The construction of a new grain terminal has been completed in the port of Kuryk, which has already begun operating in test mode. The terminal’s capacity is one million tons of grain per year, which will significantly increase the export of Kazakh grain to Iran and the Caucasus. This year, 1.6 million tons of various cargo have already been transported along the Middle Corridor through the port of Kuryk, which provides up to 80% of the cargo flow from China and Central Asia to Europe.

In the first nine months of 2024, the cargo volume of Chinese ports, including sea and river ports, increased by 3.4% year-on-year to 12.97 billion tons. In September, cargo volume also showed a 1.3% increase, reaching 1.46 billion tons.

Comprehensive measures taken in recent years to develop the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) have contributed to a significant increase in cargo traffic. In the first seven months of 2024, about 4.2 million tons of cargo were transported through the ports of Aktau and Kuryk, which is the same as last year. However, the volume of transportation via the TITR increased by 63% and reached 2.5 million tons, with Chinese transit increasing more than 14 times.

At the first transport trade and export forum in Aktau, representatives of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan discussed the prospects for the construction of a new railway line Turgundi – Herat – Kandahar – Spin Buldak. This line should pass from the western border of Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan, reaching India, which opens up new opportunities for regional trade.

In anticipation of mass transportation of coal and grain, KTZ – Freight Transportation LLP decided to create specialized headquarters to manage these types of cargo. This decision was made at an operational meeting with the regions, where the general director of the company, Vladimir Petrov, ordered the creation of coal and grain headquarters.

In the first quarter of 2024, the volume of maritime cargo transportation in Kazakhstan increased 4.2 times compared to the same period of the previous year, reports the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan. According to the data, from January to March this year, about 0.654 million tons of cargo were transported by sea, which exceeds last year’s figure by 318.4%.