EU shippers fear for business as their boxes stack up in Russia

While trade sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have been well-documented, far less coverage has been given to retaliatory reciprocal measures, such as those imposed on the EU.

In October, the Putin administration imposed restrictions on goods with a potentially dual use – ie, civil and military. A move having immediate and significant repercussions for containers loaded on trains in China and bound for Europe via Russia.

Alice Arduini, CEO of Italy-based freight forwarder Alix International, told The Loadstar the Russian authorities appeared to be checking every container for these goods under sanction, which this has led to a backlog of hundreds of boxes waiting to be processed.

She said the goods under scrutiny included retail items like men’s jackets, classified by Russia as potentially having a dual use.

“According to the latest information, a meeting between the Russian and Chinese diplomatic authorities took place on 9 January, which resulted in a few containers being released. However, a lot remain stacked in Smolensk – around 90 miles from the border with Belarus.

“We have one shipment that has been stuck there since 4 November, having left China on 22 October. At the time, nobody was expecting Russia to stop all trains [to inspect goods].

“But now careful checking is required of HS (Harmonised System) codes [used by customs to classify products] in order to avoid any problems. Such uncertainty has led to another route by train being implemented via Turkey – the so-called Middle Corridor from China.”

Ms Arduini added that it was a desperate situation for European consignees that had purchased goods from China.

“They paid a premium for faster delivery via rail, instead of ocean, only to be left in limbo as to when their goods will arrive. One customer has even told me that the delay could put them out of business.

“We are hoping that with Trump taking office things will change but our immediate concern is the prospect of customers taking legal action against us for the non-delivery of goods.”

Ms Arduini has called on business support agency the Italy-China Council Foundation (ICCF) and Italian forwarder body Federspedi to act.

Federspedi said it was “keeping a watchful eye on the challenges arising from the inspections conducted by the Russian authorities on rail containers bound for Europe from China” and had “reached out” to European federation Clecat “to urge the European Commission to take action”.

Rail container traffic between China and the EU via Russia last year enjoyed a steady recovery after two years of stagnation. According to data from the Russian Ministry of Transport, the first half of 2024 produced year-on-year growth of 35%, with the same trend expected in H2, thus raising the possibility that pre-crisis volumes of about 400,000 teu could be reached over the year.

The strong growth is largely attributed to the disruption to ocean shipping around the Red Sea due to the attacks by the Houthis in Yemen.

Rail transit between China and Europe via Russia continues to be viewed as being more convenient than other routes, given that the Middle Corridor does not yet have the necessary infrastructure capable of handling high volumes of traffic. In addition, the use of alternative routes is estimated to be up to 30% more expensive.

This post was originally published on here