A China-Europe Express platform company said that since the beginning of this year, the shipment volume of China-Europe Express Express has continued to increase, but the limited port operation capacity, coupled with the impact of border epidemic prevention and control and other factors, has caused a large amount of cargo to be backlogged at the port. "From the second half of this year, At the beginning, some ports experienced serious congestion. With the increase in freight demand at the end of the year, congestion has become more serious recently."
Against the background of "extreme" demand and lack of equipment, the price of freight transport by China-Europe railway has jumped fivefold . In addition, the backlog of containers on the border between China and Kazakhstan (Alashankou and Khorgos) prompted the temporary suspension of some westbound services.
GEODIS, a leading French logistics company, told its customers: “The space on the westbound is very tight. According to the availability of venues and equipment, delivery is accepted according to the company’s reservations. “Since the westbound service has a very large demand for space, we require Check all possible bookings one by one. "
With air and sea transportation restricted, railway traffic is approaching full capacity, and the delays on the China-Kazakhstan border have exacerbated traffic congestion. According to Rob Foster, business development manager for Norman Global Logistics Central and North China, the main problem is traffic congestion, not service suspension. He said that "the border has a large backlog of goods, and the railway transportation company cannot handle the volume of trucks." "In the first week of December, the westbound price per 40-foot high container ranged from US$6,000 to US$10,000, four or five times that of the same period last year. Shipping companies would not even guarantee to provide space at such a price. " "Serious shortage of equipment . " It is also a key issue , especially outside of China.
"By manipulating the ocean freight market, shipping companies have caused this problem to a large extent, affecting all services. For several months, airlines have been operating small ships, coupled with suspension of services, slowly forming pressure. Rail transport companies There are some containers, but there are still many containers that are leased."
He pointed out that in recent years, there has been an "explosive growth" in train services, which has increased from a few times a week to a few hundred times a month, putting considerable pressure on the railway network. In fact, taking Alashankou as an example, the latest data shows that this year's railway transmission volume has increased by 42% to 4,500 times, and the entire China-Europe railway network has sent more than 10,000 times.
In response to the current serious backlog of ports, the National Railway Group issued dispatch orders this month:
Dispatch order:
• Issued on November 22: From 22 to 25, shipments of outbound goods via Alashankou and Horgos except for the China-Europe Express will be suspended.
• Issued on December 8th: From 8th to 13th, all kinds of goods exported to Erlian and Alashankou will be suspended. If there are key materials, they must be reported to the National Railway Group.
• Issued on December 13th: From 13th to 16th, cargoes exported to Manzhouli, Erlian and Alashankou will be suspended (except for the scheduled train).
• Re-delivery on December 16th: From 18:00 on the 16th to 18:00 on the 19th, all kinds of goods exported to Manzhouli and Alashankou except for the scheduled China-Europe Express train will stop loading.
On December 12, the National Railway Group responded to the recent congestion of the China-Europe Express, saying that the port handover capacity has indeed declined recently, and some corridors have moved slowly. The National Railway Group said this is due to the approach of Christmas in the West. The demand is strong, and the epidemic prevention and control measures at port stations have been strengthened, as a result of factors such as bad weather overseas. The railway department has taken measures to carry out source regulation and deconstruction, and adopt phased capacity regulation measures; at the same time, implement capacity expansion and transformation at Khorgos, Erlianhot and other ports to improve handover capabilities; strengthen international coordination and cooperation. China National Railway Group stated that the above measures have effectively relieved port congestion. China National Railway Group requires that China-Europe Express trains will not be suspended or installed during this period.
The above-mentioned China-Europe Express platform company said that a train from China to Europe needs to be changed twice in the middle. The first time was when China exited the CIS countries or Mongolia, the standard gauge (1435) Cm) car plate, replaced by a wide gauge (1520 cm) car plate, the second change is to go from Russia westbound to Europe, and then change from the wide gauge car plate to the standard gauge car plate, the smooth operation of the train needs Close cooperation with countries along the way.
"Because the trains on the outbound journey are blocked at the port, and there are no trains on the return journey to pick up the containers, once congestion occurs, it will be two-way." The above-mentioned person said.
A freight forwarder engaged in the China-Europe freight train business in Central Asia also told a reporter from China Business News that the limited number of railway infrastructure and loading and unloading equipment in some Central Asian countries and the low level of dispatching are one of the important reasons for congestion. For example, the number of wide-gauge car plates in Kazakhstan is much lower than that of Chinese ports. After the car plates are dispatched to Europe, Kazakhstan's own ports face the problem of insufficient car plates.
Regarding the reasons for the increasing demand for China-Europe Express, an international logistics company said that under the impact of the epidemic, air freight prices have skyrocketed, and shipping companies have reduced the number of ocean freighters and the number of ports of call. The convenience and effectiveness are greatly reduced. Rail freight has become the choice of more and more customers. "Air transport capacity is limited, and freight is high. Maritime transport involves crew quarantine, cargo handling and other links, frequent personnel contacts, which were greatly affected during the epidemic. Many goods originally transported by air and sea were transferred to rail transportation, which led to the beginning of February this year. , The volume of China-Europe express trains continues to grow."
The data released by China Railway Group also showed that as of November 5, the number of China-Europe freight trains in 2020 has reached 10,180, which has exceeded the number of trains in the whole year of last year, transporting 927,000 TEUs of goods, an increase of 54% year-on-year. In November this year, the China-Europe freight train continued to operate at a high level, with 1,238 trains operating 115,000 TEUs, an increase of 64% and 73% year-on-year respectively, and the comprehensive heavy container rate reached 98.8%.
