February 2022 marks the fifth anniversary of the founding of the International Association "Trans-Caspian International Transport Route" (hereinafter – Association). Specifically, on February 6, 2017, the Executive Body of the Association, headquartered in Astana (Republic of Kazakhstan), began its practical activities.
Today, we can confidently state the fact that since its foundation, significant progress has been made in the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR/Middle Corridor). The successes achieved in such a short period became possible thanks to the joint efforts and well-coordinated work of all members of the Association. The fifth anniversary is a celebration not only for the Association and its members but also for all its participants represented by transportation operators, logistics companies, and shippers involved in the process of transportation along the TITR route, as well as business circles of countries located along the route from China to Turkey and European countries.
Since the establishment of the Association, the number of its members has increased from 7 transport companies in 2017 to 20 transport and logistics companies in 2022. In addition, new countries have joined the route, which makes it possible to diversify the directions of transportation along the TITR and be more attractive to shippers.
Over the years of the Association's activity, all its members have done a large and coordinated work aimed at attracting foreign trade cargo to the route, improving the unified technology of the transportation process, creating competitive tariffs, and developing infrastructure along the entire route chain. The key infrastructure project in the logistics chain of the route is the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, which connects Azerbaijan and Georgia with Turkey and the countries of Southern Europe. The commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line in 2017 gave an additional impetus to the development of TITR, thereby expanding the export and transit geography of transportation.
In addition, it is important to note the commissioning of the new port of Kuryk and the new port of Baku (Alyat) on the Caspian Sea. The development and modernization of this kind of transport infrastructure in the Caspian have had a positive multiplier effect on increasing the competitiveness of the route and increasing trade flows on the revived Silk Road, expanding cooperation and contributing to the economic advancement of the region.
For 5 years of its activity, the Association has attracted such cargoes to the TITR route as container trains with adipic acid, consumer goods, nuts and sunflower seeds from China to Turkey, container trains with tomato paste to Italy, container transportation of ferrosilicon from Kazakhstan to Turkey and in transit through Georgian ports to Europe, wagon shipments of paraxylene from Kazakhstan to China, transportation of non-ferrous metals from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to Turkey by wagon and container shipments, etc.
In 2019, a regular feeder service was launched along the TITR route along the Aktau-Baku-Aktau section. The launch of this service contributed to the expansion of containerization services, the increase in the efficiency of the use of railway rolling stock, as well as the increase in the volume of cargo transportation along the TITR. Thus, in 2017, the volume of container traffic on TITR was 8.9 thousand TEU, and in 2021 this figure was 25.2 thousand TEU. At the moment, in order to serve this feeder line, two feeder ships ply between the ports of Baku and Aktau, with an increase in the volume of containers transported, an increase in the number of ships and the frequency of their plying is envisaged.
As part of the development of the TITR route, in 2022 it is planned to launch a similar feeder line on the Black Sea in several directions, which will fundamentally change the technology of transportation along the TITR route and significantly increase the efficiency of transportation.
In general, since the establishment of the Association to date, a total of 4,463 million tons of cargo, including 96 360 TEU containers, have been transported along the TITR route.
The Association and its members are constantly working on improving the unified technology of the transportation process and reducing the delivery time of goods. In 2019, the participants of TITR approved and signed the agreement on the organization of container service with the usage of feeder vessels between the ports of Aktau – Baku/ Alyat. The unique feature of this document is that this is the first agreement that provides a single procedure of completion of paperwork of rail-water container transportation at the Caspian Sea. In addition, the agreement on interaction and responsibility in providing the organization of cargo transportation as part of container trains along the route TITR was signed. The approval of this document strictly regulates the cargo delivery time generally on the TITR and on each of its individual sections.
In the context of global digitalization, the Association, its members, and partners continue to work together to implement projects aimed at creating a digital corridor along the TITR route. So in 2021, as part of the route digitalization project, pilot container shipments of ferroalloys were carried out on the Karaganda-Poti section.
The Association is entrusted with a number of strategic missions to ensure the most efficient operation of the trade route from Asia to Europe and back. In the short term, the Association will continue to stick to the set course, and together with its members will work on the further development of TITR. In this regard, the Association is working on the development of the "Strategy for the development of the TITR route until 2030". A clear and well-reasoned strategy will allow not only avoiding risks, but also realizing the growth potential, rationally managing resources, and increasing the competitiveness of the TITR route. Building a clear system of strategic planning, defining strategic goals, and ways to achieve them are the components of success for the Association.
For reference:
Regular members of the Association:
- «Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping» CJSC (Azerbaijan)
- «Azerbaijan Railways» CJSC (Azerbaijan)
- «NC «Aktau Sea Commercial Port» JSC (Kazakhstan)
- «Baku International Sea Trade Port» CJSC (Azerbaijan)
- «Georgian Railway» JSC (Georgia)
- «NC «Kazakhstan Railways» JSC (Kazakhstan)
- «TCDD Transportation» JSC (Turkey)
- «Ukrzaliznytsia» JSC (Ukraine)
Associate members of the Association:
- «PKP Broad Gauge Metallurgical Railway Line» LLC (Poland)
- «Port Kuryk» LLC (Kazakhstan)
- Lianyungang Port Holdings Group (China)
- «NMSK «Kazmortransflot» LLP (Kazakhstan)
- «Batumi Sea Port» LLC (Georgia)
- Grampet Group (Romania)
- Baku Hovsan International Trade Sea Port OJSC (Azerbaijan)
- «Kascor-Transservis» JSC (Kazakhstan)
- Xi’an Continental Bridge International Logistics Co., Ltd. (China)
- Tis-Container Terminal LLC (Ukraine)
- «Aktau Marine North Terminal» LLC (Kazakhstan)
- Pasifik Eurasia Lojistik Diş Ticaret A.Ş. (Turkey)
THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION «TRANS-CASPIAN INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT ROUTE»