A new container hub to be created in the Port of Aktau due to sanctions against Russia

Aktau, Kazakhstan (PortSEurope) March 30, 2022 – The Kazakhstan government is planning a new container hub for the Port of Aktau. Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Kairbek Uskenbaev said that international sanctions against Russia have forced Kazakhstan to seek alternative routes to export, import and transship cargo. “Negotiations were held with the Singaporean company PSA International on their participation in the implementation of the container hub project. It is expected to attract a container fleet of global container operators such as Maersk, MSC and COSCO Shipping. Expansion of Kazakhstan’s merchant fleet of four ferries is planned with the involvement of private business,” Uskenbaev said. In 2022, Kazakhstan expects its Caspian Sea ports of Aktau and Kuryk to handle some 10 million tonnes of cargo. The increase on 2021 is due to the redirection of 4 million tonnes of export cargo. Due to ruptured of logistics chains in Kazakhstan, following the Russian invasion in Ukraine a month ago, alternative trade corridors for the transportation of export and transit cargo have been developed. The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) Export cargoes are redirected to Latvian ports (Liepaja, Riga, Ventspils) and to the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, which combines the countries participating in the new Silk Road project and important players in the region. Its members are leading maritime and transport companies from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, China and Turkey. The organisation aims to popularise the Middle Corridor, accelerate and simplify transport procedures between Asia and Europe, and make special preferential tariffs. Between East and West, in terms of cargo, the Middle Corridor helps to compete with the north-south routes. TITR allows European companies to bypass Russia, which until now sanctions the transit of certain types of goods through the country. A number of Russian entities are under sanctions from the international community following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea in 2014. The sanctions have been massively increased since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The importance of this route was underlined with the inclusion of Georgia and Azerbaijan in the European Union (EU) TEN-T network. For TITR, an agreement was reached with Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey on the establishment of a joint venture on the route, similar to Russia's UTLC ERA (United Transport and Logistics Company). UTLC ERA provides services for transportation of containers by regular container block trains on the route China-Europe-China through the territories of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Belarus. The route passes through the seaports of Aktau and Kuryk, then along the feeder and ferry line to the Azeri ports of Baku and Alyat. Then, along the railways of Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Georgian Black Sea ports of Batumi and Poti. Further, via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway to the Turkish ports of Istanbul and Mersin or alternatively across the Black Sea to Constanta in Romania or Bulgaria’s ports of Varna and Burgas. The distance from Aktau to Batumi/Poti is about 1300 km, of which: Aktau - Baku - 450 km by sea, Baku - Batumi / Poti - 850 km by rail. “As an alternative land route for the delivery of goods to Europe, we propose to use the capacities of the Kazakh seaports of Aktau and Kuryk, bypassing the ports on the Black Sea, then to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary and further to Western European countries,” said in early March Yerlan Absatov, Kazakh transport union (KAZLOGISTICS) director. Such a route is longer and more expensive, but safer, he added. In the light of recent events in Ukraine, the Port of Kuryk can increase its cargo transshipment five folds or additional additional 4 million tonnes, Serik Akhmetov, General Director of Port of Kuryk said. Oil products, fertilizers, chemicals, metals, and consumer goods are exported from Kazakhstan through the port of Kuryk. Imports are food, industrial equipment, textiles, electronics, building materials and other goods. Various equipment, electronics, textiles, chemical industry products, metal products from China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development, the ports of Aktau and Kuryk are operating normally. There is no cargo downtime. Kazakhstan’s ports have additional cargo processing capacity of up to 10 million tonnes, including about 5.5 million tonnes of oil. Aktau and Kuryk ports are currently operating at around 23% capacity. On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine. U.S. and EU sanctions practically closed Russian ports for international cargo and ships. The war also closed all Ukrainian ports in the Caspian and Azov Seas. Traders are redirecting cargo and seeking new routes to market for cargo which previously used these ports. The war in Ukraine and the massive Western sanctions against Russia led to a meeting in Baku on March 9 between Azerbaijan’s Transport Minister Rashad Nabiyev and a delegation headed by Chairman of Kazakhstan’s Samruk-Kazyna JSC Almasadam Satkaliyev. They discussed the optimisation of transport tariffs, synchronisation of customs procedures to increase the volume of freight traffic along international transport corridors passing through the countries. TITR allows European companies to bypass Russia, which also sanctioned the transit of certain types of goods through the country. Now Russia is completely isolated from the international trade. The importance of this route was underlined with the inclusion of Georgia and Azerbaijan in the European Union (EU) TEN-T network. More PortSEurope news about the Ukrainian crisis Copyright (C) PortSEurope. All Rights Reserved. 2022.

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A new container hub to be created in the Port of Aktau due to sanctions against Russia

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