What They Say
The aggressive war by Russia on Ukraine is having an impact on the train routes that have been established for moving goods from China through to Russia. The South China Morning Post reported that network equipment firm, Zyxel, had suspended shipments and Caixin said that 98% of the trains heading for the EU go through Russia, Belarus and Poland.
The paper reports that 10 million notebooks were shipped this way in 2020 from Chongqing after the cost and delays from containers got worse. There’s a video here that said that more than 50,000 train loads had now travelled the route, with a value of $240 billion.
What We Think
I have written about this train route before (Looking to the East at IFA and Subsidies for Booming China-EU Rail Link Unsustainable, Maersk Exec Tells Boao Forum). During the problems in the Suez canal last year, it may have looked an attractive route as a lower cost alternative to air freight. (BR)
