The volume of cargo transportation via the Trans-Caspian transport route has increased
By Nika Chitadze, Professor of the International Black Sea University, Director of the Center for International Studies
The volume of cargo transportation on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) in January-June of this year exceeded 1.3 million tons, which is 1.8 times more than in the same period of 2022. It is worth noting the fact that according to the data of the first quarter of the same year, the volume of cargo transportation along the TITR was 433.2 thousand tons in the January-March period, which was 1.6 times more than the same period in 2022.
Thus, in the next three months, namely from April to June, the volume of cargo transportation by TITR increased by at least 866.8 thousand tons.
In 2022, the total volume of cargo transportation by TITR amounted to 1.5 million tons, which was 2.5 times more than the figure of 2021.
It is necessary to note that the multimodal route connects many countries, in which seaports play a key role. Thus, daily activities are carried out with the participants of the route to improve the infrastructure, remove barriers, increase the capacity of the corridor, and reduce the time required for the movement of goods.
The Trans-Caspian international transport route, known as the “Middle Corridor”, passes through the territory of China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and then Turkey and European countries.
Last year, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey signed the road map for 2022-2027, which envisages the further development of the Trans-Caspian route and the joint elimination of “bottlenecks”.
According to the forecast made by the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smilov in April, this year the volume of cargo transportation on the Trans-Caspian international transport route, compared to 2022, may increase by 17.6% to 2 million tons.
“Baku-Tbilisi-Kars” railway is a part of the corridor. As is known, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey approved the 2022-2027 road map for the development of the Trans-Caspian route last year to solve the problem of traffic jams on this route.
It is expected that if the agreements are implemented, by 2025, the throughput of the Middle Corridor will increase to 10 million tons.
