(Yicai Global) Dec. 14 -- The China-Europe Railway Express connecting China and European countries has seen a significant rise in transport volume this year against the backdrop of air and sea transport stricken by the Covid-19 pandemic and has recently suffered heavy jams at border ports entering and leaving China as the economic recovery of its trading partners lags.

Cargo congestion has occurred in the China-Russia, China-Mongolia, and China-Kazakhstan border ports as the year drags to an end, triggering a “port suspension" order by China State Railway Group.

The port suspension means the local railway bureau must clear the backlog of goods at the port before loading new goods, leading to a queue of exports in this peak season.

China State Railway shelved the loading of all goods leaving Manzhouli, Erenhot and Alashankou from Dec. 8 and Dec. 13 because of the heavy log jam, per a “dispatch order” to local railway bureau companies last week. A new order issued yesterday extended the suspension to 6.00 p.m. on Dec. 16.

“Almost all exit ports for the China-Europe Railway Express are congested, including Alashankou and Horgos in west China, as well as Erenhot, Manzhouli and Suifenhe in the east," Yang Jie, senior coordinator of international affairs at the Asia-Europe Land Bridge and International Train Service Center of the China Communications and Transportation Association, told Yicai Global.

Trade Imbalance

This is not the first port suspension this year, and it has happened several times before, freight forwarders told Yicai Global. China State Railway issued a similar notice on Nov. 19 before this suspension order.

The congestion occurred as early as June this year, Yang told Yicai Global, “China State Railway Group issued several suspension orders which, however, brought little effect. Congestion at ports is becoming normal."

The rising imbalance in east-west cargo transport caused by the coronavirus is the major reason for the frequent port congestions this year, Yang said.

The China-Europe Railway Express transport has grown against the grain of the overall downturn since the pandemic broke out, placing great pressure on shipments of huge volumes of epidemic prevention and control supplies and living materials. As of Nov. 15, 10,180 China-Europe Railway Express trains had been in operation this year, more than the figure for all last year, and had transported 927,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of goods, up 54 percent from the same period last year, per statistics from China’s state planner the National Development and Reform Commission.

Sitting Empty

The coronavirus induced a greater imbalance in outbound-and-return journeys of the China-Europe Railway Express trains than previous years, Yang said, adding, “Wide-gauge wagons arriving in Europe could not return to the Chinese border ports quickly because of a lack of goods on return journeys, leading to a backlog and congestion of goods to be exported at Chinese border ports."

A China-Europe Railway Express train from China to Germany needs at least two changes of wagons with different technical standards for three-section transport: Chinese wagons to wide-gauge wagons to European wagons.

China has tightened the coronavirus prevention and control measures at ports amid a new round of outbreaks in the neighboring countries of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia since last month, and some ports are also renovating facilities, so foreign trains with imported goods are also hindered in unloading and loading new goods at Chinese ports, which is another reason for the congestion, Yang stated.

The China-Europe Railway Express transport boom will continue until the Spring Festival and the post-holiday situation will depend on the success of the epidemic prevention and control efforts of the countries along the route, Yang predicted, adding the difficulty in the logistics field will last as long as the intercontinental circulation of goods remains choked.

China is likewise suffering a great dearth of shipping containers due to the big imbalance in global trade, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This has led to containers full of goods leaving China and then not returning, thus further jacking up transport costs.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Ben Armour, Xiao Yi