Strong demand for Asia-Europe railways! Two major international transport companies increase capacity to meet demand

International transport company MSC launched the first Asia-Europe sea-rail service in Russia on Monday, while its 2M partner Maersk once again upgraded its products and services on the same trade route , providing more capacity to meet the demand for consignments shifting from air and sea freight to rail in the Asia-Europe region.  

Over the past few months,   The demand for imports and exports in Asia has been growing, and freight rates have remained at a relatively high level despite the tight shipping capacity. Therefore, many carriers have taken the opportunity to launch many new Asia-Europe rail transport services .  

Maersk announced on Monday that it would expand its AE19 product , which features an intermodal service connecting Japan, South Korea and Europe via the Trans-Siberian Railway . Also on Monday, MSC launched its first sea- rail product .  

Despite covering the same area and offering similar transit times, a Maersk spokesperson said the two companies’ services were offered independently and not in collaboration through their 2M alliance.

MSC 's new service will use the company's feeder network in Asia to connect ports in China, Japan and South Korea with the ports of Vostochniy and Vladivostok in Russia's Far East. The containers will then be transported by rail to Baltic ports, where MSC feeder ships will deliver the containers to various European hubs . This transportation solution shortens the transportation time between Asia and Europe and improves efficiency.

Maersk 's AE19 westbound service was trialled in 2019 and quickly developed into a weekly fixed route for transporting high-value and time-sensitive cargo such as electronics and car batteries. Due to the epidemic crisis and pressure on container shipping capacity, AE19 has been in short supply .

The company said on Monday that it would increase the frequency of its westbound service from three to four times a week this month, while the eastbound service would depart every week . The westbound route of AE19 mainly carries cargo from Poland, Finland, the Netherlands and Germany to South Korea , northern China and Japan .

In addition to MSC and Maersk's emphasis on the Asia-Europe route, China-Europe trains departing from China are also developing rapidly. According to data from China Railway Express, a state-owned railway network operator, a record 12,400 trains were deployed on routes departing from China in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 50%, and the volume increased by 56% to 1.13 million TEUs.

After the pandemic and the Suez incident, the stable schedule, predictable delivery time and timely customs clearance at ports on Russian transit routes have also become a major selling point. In order to meet the growing demand of Asian and European shippers , routes through Russia are likely to continue to expand in scale , and the Asia-Europe railway line will continue to be prosperous .

logistics

Eurasian Railway