Category: Freight

Cost Advantage: Proposed Turkmenistan freight route could cut transit costs by $8/ton versus the current Uzbekistan corridor. Scale Potential: New logistics complex at Bolashak station is designed to handle 1–2 million tons of grain and flour annually. Savings Impact: Projected annual savings of $8–16 million for Kazakh exporters if targeted volumes are realized. Route Diversification:…

Recent rainfall has restored navigable water levels on the Rhine, allowing ships to operate at or near full capacity along most of the route. April low water forced reduced cargo loads and split shipments, sharply increasing freight costs for cargo owners. Normal loading capacity has returned at key bottleneck Kaub, with the remaining Cologne section…

Bearish Ukrainian exports: Grain shipments are down 6 million tons year-on-year to 31.141 million tons, with wheat exports off 20% and barley also sharply lower. Supportive for alternative routes: Reduced Ukrainian volumes may redirect cargo flows and bolster freight demand via Russian and Romanian Black Sea ports. Freight pressure on Ukraine: The steep slowdown in…

Record exports: Russian plant meal shipments to China exceeded 0.6 million tonnes in Jan–Apr 2026, up 78% year-on-year. Product mix growth: Sunflower meal exports rose to 0.2 million tonnes (+33%), while soybean meal exports jumped 9.1-fold to 0.03 million tonnes. Competitive boost: Canadian canola shipment delays and Russia’s record rapeseed harvest allowed Russian suppliers to expand market share. Outlook:…

New Caspian route: Kazakhstan has opened a regular export corridor for vegetable oils to Iran via Aktau, with initial rapeseed and sunflower oil cargoes of 5,000 tons each. Capacity potential: Aktau port can support 150,000–200,000 tons of vegetable oil shipments per year, providing a scalable outlet for Kazakh exports. Strong Iranian demand: Iran imports about…

Process Advancement: Competitive dialogue for the Chornomorsk port concession has officially started, with all participants granted access to key project information after signing NDAs. Institutional Support: EBRD and IFC advisors will assist the tender committee in evaluating proposals and drafting the final concession agreement and instructions for bidders. Market Impact: The development is neutral to…

Grain exports via rail up 14.4% y/y to 4.2 million tonnes in January–April 2026, highlighting stronger Kazakhstan-origin supply into export markets. Total export freight traffic rose 8% to 30.4 million tonnes, with overall KTZ rail volumes reaching 84.4 million tonnes in the first four months of 2026. Compound feed traffic surged 62% to 1.3 million…

Ukrzaliznytsia’s rail exports of vegetable oils fell 9.6% in April to 143.7 thousand tons, signaling softer flows in Ukraine’s oilseed complex. Oilcake and meal exports declined more sharply, down 15.2% month-on-month to 239.3 thousand tons, with volumes heavily concentrated on land routes. Land border crossings dominated logistics, handling 58% of oil and 84% of meal…

Approximately 90% of Ukrainian agricultural exports depend on Greater Odessa ports, leaving no viable alternative corridor. Direct losses to companies with port storage and transshipment facilities already exceed $1.5 billion. Repeated attacks on Black Sea infrastructure are causing systemic delays in transshipment, processing, and storage operations. Ongoing disruptions are bearish for Ukrainian grain freight, increasing…

Kazakhstan has launched a coordinated multi-agency initiative to accelerate development of non-resource exports and support domestic producers. Five key state institutions will jointly expand access to financial support and strengthen international promotion of Kazakh products. Regional enterprises will receive structured export potential assessments and better access to existing export support tools. For agri-freight, the initiative…