Rail Freight Update - China to Europe transportation - now also Vietnam!

In December 2021, China and Laos launched a rail service between the two countries. The first traindeparted from Kunming, Yunnan Province to Vientiane, capital of Laos. The train returned with specialty products from Thailand and Laos to Kunming, which will be delivered to China's metropolitan cities.

This rail service reduces transit times by half compared with sea transport. The train runs at a speed of 160 kilometers per hour. Also, the newly opened railway is making a significant impact on reducing logistics costs for China and Laos.

Recent additions include the routing of trains departing from different locations across China. Currently, Crane Worldwide provides weekly service from Zengcheng, Guangdong Province with departures every Friday.

China will double the number of cargo trains on the line during nearly six weeks around theLunar New Year, Chinese state media reported.

Interested in learning more about the China Railroad to Europe, don't hesitate to reach out to our rail freight experts.Contact Us

Our client had difficulty planning inventory and were holding significant buffer stock to compensate for any late shipment arrivals from their ocean freight services. After experiencing fluctuating ocean freight charges and high customs brokerage costs, the client reached out to Crane Worldwide Logistics in Asia Pacific for a better logistics solution.Read More

UPDATED 4th February

Municipalities such as Shanghai, have announced that Lunar New Year holidays will be extended to the 9th February. Important to note that with the current Coronavirus outbreak, healthcare businesses will also be closed. The current situation for Wuhan is currently not clear and the province is on complete lockdown.

With factories closed and workers being unable to travel back to their workplaces (as many areas have travel bans or restrictions) a backlog of orders is inevitable. Truck drivers may also be unable to travel back from their homes where they have been celebrating Lunar New Year with their families.

Almost all Provinces in China have confirmed cases of the new virus and the count is rising daily. All industries will be impacted due to the travel bans, port closures and the impact of flight cancellations and closed borders from other countries will, without a doubt, impact supply chains around the world.

Cargo delays and pick ups will continue to be a challenge in remote areas due to limited drivers available for example. Workers will also be advised to stay home by families concerned for public health in the big cities.

Wuhan is currently on lockdown, freight services are not available and the only cargo entering Wuhan is relief goods sent by air freight. All other modes are blocked. Wuhan is not only a very important hub on the New Silk Road, it is also the most important transportation hub for China as most Passenger and Cargo Trains go through Wuhan as a central point.

Alternative Rail Terminals are now being looked into such as Xi’An & Chongqing. Currently there is enough capacity on the Xi’An routing but this could be over very soon as we are sure that there will be way more cargo than we are expecting to switch from Ocean freight to Rail mode.

Ocean Freight- An increase of cargo moving to rail from Ocean and from Air Freight is expected. Ocean Freight delays are possible due to limited port operations as well as delays in manufacturing. Blank sailings and an increase in ocean freight rates are foreseen.

Air charter- requests are on the increase, however we are beginning to see charter operators express concerns for their crew landing in China.

Air freight cargo- hit significantly due to the cancellations of major air operators cancelling flights to China. The usual air freight cargo (belly load) that is loaded onto passenger flights will lack availability.

Rail freight- there is the possibility to switch containerised cargo from ocean to rail freight, not only for European destinations but also for Latin America and North America. The cargo moving by rail freight to Rotterdam can be loaded onto ocean freight to continue its journey to the United States. Cargo can be moved out of China by truck, which may be a more efficient option loading cargo onto the rail trains in Kazakhstan, as congestion is expected to increase in Xi'An.

LISTEN IN TO THE WEBINARfeaturing Marco Reichel, Regional Business Development Manager – APAC on the current rail freight situation in China on the latest webinar fromRailfreight.com