Kiwifruit from Chengdu that left for customers in Europe on this first train from Chengdu aren’t the only fruit transported via this iron Silk Road. Walnuts, garlic, mushrooms, peaches, bell peppers and tomatoes, among other products, are also finding their way to Europe via the new Silk Road. This One Belt One Road initiative, as the new Silk Road is also called, is a prestige project of the Chinese government. Billions are spent to improve the infrastructure between Asia and Europe, so that better connections via oceans and railway are created. Chinese President Xi Jinping presented the project in 2013.
Railway alternative to ocean and air
“As far as I know, the first train with fruit and vegetables arrived in Hamburg on 1 May 2015,” says Dustin Woo, managing director of HLT International Logistics, which provides transport per train between China and Europe, among other things. This first train had left from Zhengzhou.
“It’s the third alternative to air and seaborne cargo,” he continues. “We’re definitely benefiting from this new option.” For fruit and vegetables, the transport is still a niche market. The train cannot compete with seaborne cargo, particularly regarding prices. “When the exporter thinks transit times are more important than the costs, the train would definitely have an added advantage,” Dustin says. He doesn’t expect prices to quickly drop when volume rises. “The railway connection is very much dependent on subsidies of local, Chinese governments. Subsidies will be reduced in coming years,” he knows. However, there’s also a bright spot. Due to regular transport, an ideal circulation of containers is created, which could reduce costs for using the reefers.
Delays due to fragile infrastructure
After departing from China, the train passes the borders of Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany. “Ideally, transport would take 12 days, but due to delays at the borders, 15 days is standard,” Dustin says. That delay is partly the consequence of the success of the route. In 2013, fewer than five trains rode the railway between China and Europe per week, but that has now increased to more than 50 trains per week. “The developments of infrastructure just couldn’t keep up,” Dustin explains. “In Poland in particular the fragile infrastructure around Malaszewicze was a major problem. Last year, maintenance was done on the route, causing serious delays, and they’re soon starting new maintenance work.”
To guarantee the quality of the fruit, the usual reefer containers are used. These reefers are cooled using diesel engines. “We use a special type of reefers with diesel engines. The railway employee has to fill the tank at least once, depending on the distance.” For return transport, these reefers are used for other products, such as wine, hi-tech appliances sensitive to temperature fluctuations and medicine. Besides, a stable railway connection is looked into. For example, the connection from Europe to Zhengzhou and Hefei are known as reliable.
R
ussian boycott hampers European transitFrom Europe, the initiative to reintroduce the centuries-old Silk Road can count on positive responses. Via, for instance, Duisburg a connection is already possible to the route from Rotterdam. In March 2018, the first container train that departed from Amsterdam arrived in China. These connections mostly offer opportunities for non-perishable products.
Spanish stone fruit growers are considering to use the railway connection for export to the Far East during the coming season. China’s import protocol states that stone fruit has to undergo a cold treatment of 15 days. “If we switch to transport via railway, we could do this cold treatment during transport, so that transit time would be similar to that of air cargo,” says Joaquín Gómez, manager of Apoexpa. He also considers the 15 days of cold treatment prior to air transport in that calculation. The train would therefore be a cheaper alternative to airplanes and it would be quicker than seaborne cargo.
Whether Spanish stone fruit will be exported to China per train this year remains to be seen. For now, the Russian boycott is still blocking things. Although Russia’s sanctions allow the transit of fruit and vegetables, there are also examples of lorries with transit products being stopped. Russia suspects European exporters of unloading the products in Russia, rather than transporting them through the country. “The interest in transporting fruit and vegetables to China by rail is definitely there, but for now the Russian boycott is throwing a spanner in the works,” Dustin concludes.
More information
HLT International Logistics
Dustin Woo
dustin@hltnb.com
www.hltnb.com