PSA International to build container terminal in Aktau port

Aktau, Kazakhstan (PortSEurope) April 8, 2022 - Kazakhstan and Singapore-based PSA International company have agreed to build and develop a container hub in Aktau port on the Caspian Sea. Berik Kamaliev, Deputy Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan, and Lee Pen Gee, Vice-President of PSA International Pte Ltd, met in Nur-Sultan to discuss cooperation in transport and logistics, including establishment of a container hub in the port of Aktau, as well as digitalisation of customs and trade processes. PSA representatives expressed interest in further development of transportation along the Trans-Caspian international (TITR) transport route. The new project will increase containers capacity of the port to 100,000 TEU. In the first quarter of the current year, the volume of container traffic through Aktau and Kuryk seaports increased by 4% compared to the same period of 2021. 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. 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. “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. Russian Invasion of Ukraine 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. Copyright (C) PortSEurope. All Rights Reserved. 2022.

PSA International to build container terminal in Aktau port

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PSA International to build container terminal in Aktau port

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