Russia aims to establish a permanent rail connection with China to enable food exports. In recent weeks, the Russians conducted a trial of the first refrigerated rail transport of poultry meat, starting from a marshalling yard near Moscow to China.
The initial shipments primarily consisted of milk powder and salmon. New deliveries are underway with meat products and milk powder again. These are all products in high demand in China, according to the international trade magazine Railfreight.com. On May 8, a trial shipment of 24 tons of frozen poultry meat departed by train from Selyatino (near Moscow) to Chongqing (Central China). Another Chinese megacity, Chengdu, is set to be the next destination. The transit time was estimated at 15-16 days.
The goal of the joint Russian-Chinese project is to organize a permanent connection for exporting Russian food to China’s billion-plus population. China is partly dependent on imports of meat and grain for its food supply, sourced from both Western Europe and North and South America.
For this reason, China has actively collaborated for several years on the construction of new rail links, including connections that link the port of Rotterdam and the marshalling yard near Lage Zwaluwe via Duisburg to a rail transport route to China.
In June 2019, the Russian government announced it would lift the ban on overland transport of (European) 'sanctioned goods' such as fresh food and agricultural products. The end of this partially unsuccessful Russian anti-EU sanction is seen as an opportunity for European shippers and carriers.
Until recently, they were restricted to air or sea freight or had to take a large detour if they opted for rail transport, according to the Chinese news agency ECNS. After the announcement, a lengthy preparation period followed, and in March the first train carrying ‘sanctioned goods’ was allowed on the shortest route via Kazakhstan.
The provision of refrigerated containers for the China transport was organized by the Resource Group, one of the largest manufacturers in Russia, in cooperation with RZD Logistics, a subsidiary of Russian Railways. Russian poultry producers have already indicated they want to use the new connections for their exports of poultry to the Chinese market.
Since the end of last year, RZD Logistics has been developing its Agroexpress, a series of container trains intended for agricultural goods. Trade in agricultural products is viewed by the Russians as the future of foreign trade with China.