China Just Got a Little Bit Closer

Evropac and the Postal Logistics Company (PLC, a subsidiary of Pochta Rossii (the Russian National Post) have sent the first joint container train to China. Trains are now scheduled to ship via the new route 3-4 times a month.

The first export train transporting liquid cargo from Omsk will deliver rapeseed oil from Russian producers to China. A train loaded with 82 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) will deliver the groceries from Siberian agricultural producers to the Chinese city of Chongqing. The containers will enter via the Zabaikalsk (Russia) - Manchuria (China) border crossing with an estimated travel time from shipping point to the destination station of be approximately 12 days. 

As the PLC press service stated to "1520International", the logistics company acts as a train operator and shipper. Evropac in this case is the cargo owner and provides flexitanks (polymer elastic inserts for transporting non-hazardous liquid cargos). It should be noted that the dispatch of the first train also featured Transcontainer’s participation in organizing it. The company provided fitting platforms and 48 TEUs (the other 34 TEUs are owned by the client). 

According to PLC’s Executive Director Sergey Sluzhayev, Russian agro-industry groceries are now in high demand all over the world. "Our objective is to create a convenient and fast service for Russian agro producers to export their products to any country where there is a demand for them," he said.

The initiation of the new service suggests that Evropac is continuing its strategy in developing container transportation using special inserts. The operator’s primary focus is on developing export operations. 

“The joint service for export transportation, thanks to the reduction in delivery time, is allowing us to optimize logistics costs, expand the geography of Russian non-resource exports, and increase the competitiveness of domestic agricultural products in the global food market,” Evropac Logistics Director Anna Usacheva said.

You will recall that the organization of the new service was preceded by an agreement between PLC and Evropac, concluded in April 2023 on the sidelines of the TransRussia International Transport and Logistics Services Exhibition. The document declares that the parties will jointly develop their export transportation of liquid and bulk cargoes in flexitanks and container inserts.

Sergey Volkov