China-Europe rail freight booming

UK forwarder Davies Turner says reports that April was the busiest month to date for China-Europe freight train departures mirrors its own experience on its direct Express China Rail service.

China-Europe rail freight services are continuing to see strong demand as customers seek reliable and cost-effective capacity solutions in a rapidly changing market.

UK freight forwarder Davies Turner said its Express China rail freight service has seen container volumes double, year on year. It noted that reports that April was the busiest month to date for China-Europe freight train departures mirrors its own experience on its direct Express China Rail service.

Tony Cole, head of supply chain services at the UK independent freight and logistics company, said: “Our weekly LCL volumes on the service have increased from one to two 40-foot High Cube consol containers per week this time last year, to three to four, currently – more than a 100% increase in the last 12 months.”

He highlighted reports that indicated that 976 container freight trains departed for Europe from various places in China during April – a 47% year-on-year increase.

Cole added: “Since the first such train was launched in 2011, numerous departure points have been added to the options that are available and the operation gained renewed momentum when China’s President Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road initiative in 2013, with rail transport encouraged as an alternative to shipping. As the Covid-19 pandemic has brought aviation to a standstill, shippers are seeing freight trains as a faster alternative to shipping. As liner operators have blanked sailings to reduce capacity and maintain utilisation levels, shippers are presented both with cost and time constraints.”

Davies Turner launched its own dedicated weekly fixed-day rail consol import service from China to the UK in November 2018 and “has seen it go from strength to strength”. Bookings have increased continually, the company said.

On departure from China, the rail service heads direct to Duisburg in Germany. Containers are then trucked under bond to the nearby port of Rotterdam for transport by ferry to Purfleet, near Dartford, thence for on-carriage by truck to Davies Turner’s regional distribution centres, where they are discharged, customs cleared and delivered.

Cole concluded: “With a transit time of around 24 days from China to Dartford, our direct Express China Rail service offers a vastly improved transit time versus the all-ocean alternative from ports on China’s North Eastern and Eastern coasts.”

Although air freight rates and capacity restrictions have eased considerably since the scramble for PPE in late April and May, cargo owners and their logistics providers have continued to seek alternative capacity options, major forwarders including DSV, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL have confirmed.

Indeed, in late May, DSV Panalpina reported that road transport services from China to Europe had also become increasingly viable, with transit times not much slower than some air bridges during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The forwarder offers truck transit times of 15-17 days on the 8,000+ km journey from China to Europe, with rates “considerably less expensive than air freight”.

“Our road transport service from Eastern China to Western Europe has gained in popularity while the COVID-19 crisis has spread throughout the continents as it is a viable alternative to both air, sea and rail,” said Tine Jørgensen, manager of DSV Panalpina’s Rail & Gateway business.

Source: lloyd’s