SOUTH KOREA EXPANDS CONTAINER SHIPPING ROUTES TO RUSSIA
South Korea has again expanded its container traffic with Russia, and the port of Donghae has opened container shipping, linking it with ports in the Far East.
The new route will become operational at the end of June, and Donghae officials hope it will revitalize the port and regional development through growing trade in the northern economic bloc.
South Korea's main exports to Russia are cars, auto parts, electronics and cosmetics, and from Russia wood pellets, roughage and seafood.
Meanwhile, Sinotrans Container Lines, part of China's state-owned China Merchants group, is scheduled to launch the RS1 container service on May 23, calling at Shanghai, Busan and Vladivostok.
RUSSIAN RAILWAYS OPENED A LOGISTICS CENTER IN ARKHANGELSK
On May 16, the grand opening of the transport and logistics center, created on the basis of a freight station at the Arkhangelsk railway station, took place.
The center offers comprehensive services for the delivery, loading, unloading and storage of piece, heavy and bulk cargo. The facilities are equipped with gantry cranes and other handling equipment.
The new logistics center is expected to help increase cargo flow in the region. Arkhangelsk is the busiest station of the Northern Railway, which is part of the Russian Railways. Last year, about 1.5 million tons of cargo was handled here.
Other stations of the Northern Railway, where it is planned to equip cargo terminals this year, are Cherepovets, Vologda, Veliky Ustyug and Privolzhye (Yaroslavl).
MAERSK WILL LEAVE RUSSIA COMPLETELY AND SELL RUSSIAN ASSETS
Maersk has stopped accepting new orders for all of its services (sea, air and land transport) to and from Russia. The company has also decided to sell all its assets in Russia after the annual shareholders' meeting.
Today, every third container in Russia belongs to Maersk. According to Alphaliner, Maersk is one of four operators (Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM and COSCO) that control 58% of the Russian shipping market.
Other leaders in the shipping industry have also decided to leave Russia, including the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Yang Ming.
EUROPE'S LOGISTICAL PROBLEMS WITH THE ISOLATION OF RUSSIAN CARGO ARE GROWING
The special military operation conducted by Russia and the sanctioning rhetoric of the West have led to serious problems in the logistics of Europe. There is a large accumulation of Russian cargo at various logistics hubs, such as the city of Kalundborg and the port of Rotterdam.
Last year, Russia accounted for about 13% of Rotterdam's total cargo turnover and about 8% of container handling. The port says the impact of Russia's isolation from world trade has "become visible in almost every sector."
For the European economies, the implications are already clear: according to official data, the purchasing managers' index for the euro zone hit a 15-month low in April.
Meanwhile, Asia has demonstrated the resilience of economies to external disturbances, as well as the impact of quarantine (COVID-19) on global supply chains.
TRANSPORT, LOGISTICS, SHIPBUILDING - PROJECTS BETWEEN TURKMENISTAN AND RUSSIA AT THE «KAZANFORUM»
One of the main agendas at the forum in Kazan was devoted to the topic “Infrastructural conditions for the development of cooperation in the field of
industry, transport and logistics between Russia and Turkmenistan”.
Representatives of the delegation of a number of regions of Russia and Afghanistan also took part in this session.
The head of the transport and communication complex of Turkmenistan, Mametkhan Chakiev, speaking about the interaction to increase the flow of goods along the North-South corridor, especially noted the active work with the Astrakhan region.
"We signed a memorandum on the establishment of a logistics center in the port of the Astrakhan region and a special economic zone," he said.
- I am sure that this center will become an incentive for the growth of freight traffic and
development of the North-South corridor.
Minister of Industry and Trade of Afghanistan Azizi Nuriddin noted that his country is considering the possibility of developing freight traffic along the North-South Corridor using ports in Turkmenistan and Russia.
According to Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Marat Khusnullin, «Russia aims to increase cargo turnover by 155% by 2030 along the North-South transport corridor, increasing cargo turnover between friendly countries to 35 million tons».
CUSTOMS OF RUSSIA AND IRAN AGREED ON MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF AUTHORIZED ECONOMIC OPERATORS
According to the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, the agreement provides for the simplification of direct deliveries to Russian and Iranian companies with the status of authorized economic operators.
Thus, they are entitled to priority customs procedures in Russia and Iran, selective control procedures, automatic customs clearance of goods without risk.
THE US IMPOSES NEW SANCTIONS AGAINST THE "LOGISTICS NETWORK" BETWEEN IRAN AND RUSSIA
The US State Department on Friday added two Iranian shipping companies, a port operator and a maritime service provider to its new sanctions list. The ministry said they were part of a "logistics network" between Moscow and Tehran.
On May 17, 2023, Iran and Russia signed an agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway with a length of 170 km, a strategic transport corridor connecting the existing railways of the two countries, thereby connecting the land sections of the North-South international transport corridor and increasing the economic efficiency of the trans-Caspian route. The news drew strong condemnation from the United States.
THE AMBASSADOR OF SUDAN ANNOUNCED THE TALKS ON THE OPENING OF DIRECT FLIGHTS WITH RUSSIA
Sudan is looking to expand its exports to Russia. “Negotiations on the opening of direct flights between the African country and Russia are ongoing,” said the Sudanese ambassador in Moscow.
Both parties are currently working on export logistics to Russia. Negotiations were held with the Russian authorities and Sudanese carriers to establish a direct connection.
“The main problem is the organization of direct flights between our countries, and we discussed this possibility with the Russian authorities, communicated with Sudanese carriers to launch a direct connection. When it is launched, the trade exchange will also increase as there will be more business delegations,” the diplomat added.
A MAJOR INDIAN PORT IS PREPARING TO COOPERATE WITH VLADIVOSTOK
In April 2023, within the framework of the TransRussia exhibition, Andrey Severilov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FESCO, and Ashish Sheth, Chairman of the Board of the Indian logistics group SAKSHAM Group, signed an agreement of intent to develop maritime transportation from India to Russia. The parties are also considering the possibility of launching the Chennai-Vladivostok sea line.
“About a year ago, a study was conducted on the potential of opening the Chennai-Vladivostok sea corridor. Given the current geopolitical situation, the Government of India attaches great importance to the establishment of shipping between the eastern ports of India and the ports of the Russian Far East,” said Mr. Rajesh Sinha, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Ports , shipping and waterways of India.
To date, the turnover of containers between India and Russia is 140,000 TEU per year. By 2042, it is planned to increase this figure to 760,000 TEU.
THE GOVERNMENT FIXED THE RATE OF CUSTOMS DUTIES ON A NUMBER OF ELECTRONICS
The Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Federation has set a fixed rate of customs duties for a number of electronic products for legal entities, it will amount to 30 thousand rubles, follows from a government decree. In total, 108 groups of goods fell under the new regulation.
Previously, the rate was floating and depended on the volume of the party.
RUSSIA IS STUDYING OPTIONS FOR LINKING TRANSPORT CORRIDORS WITH ROUTES TO AFRICAN COUNTRIES
"Russia is considering the possibility of linking transport corridors with logistics routes to African countries, the most promising of which are Tanzania, Egypt, Namibia, Morocco, South Africa and Angola," Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Dmitry Volvach said at the International Economic Forum "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum".
The cost of transporting containers from China to the Russian Federation, both by sea and by rail, has fallen by 30-35% since the beginning of the year, from $12-13 thousand (price in 2021) to $8-9 thousand (end of 2022 - beginning of 2023). year) for the transportation of a 40-foot container from the main Chinese ports to Moscow. According to market participants, the seasonal decline in traffic after the Chinese New Year was exacerbated by the emergence of new sea routes from China to St. Petersburg and Novorossiysk, which pull over part of the cargo, putting pressure on rates. Logistics, although they expect a slowdown in rate cuts, do not see a chance for them to return to the overheated level of 2020-2021, noting that the container transportation segment is once again becoming a customer market.
EXPERT OPINION | STABILIZATION OF EXPORT IN RUSSIA
Anton Lukyanov, General Director of Red Line Logistics LLC comments:
Anton Lukyanov
“Despite the fact that today the situation with exports from Russia remains difficult after the complete or partial exit of international logistics companies from the Russian market, there is a tendency for a gradual recovery in traffic volumes. First of all, due to new sea container carriers from Russia, China and the Middle East, which allows to resume direct transport links to the most popular destinations, such as: China, South Korea, Vietnam, India, Israel, Egypt, etc., and also greatly reduce logistics costs.
For example, the cost of freight on the route St. Petersburg - Taicang (China) decreased by an average of 20%, and in May 2023 it is 2400 USD / 40HC (on LI-LO terms).
An important point today is also the increase in the volume of cargo transportation to the east along the Northern Sea Route and the planned increase in the civil nuclear fleet of Russia. The reorientation of cargo flows from the NWFD to the port of St. Petersburg and the resumption of the transit of timber products through Kazakhstan also contributed to the improvement of the situation on the railway in the direction of the Far Eastern ports. The cost of transportation and the regularity of shipments have stabilized.”