Most China-Europe freight trains canceled due to virus outbreak
February 25, 2020 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
The outbreak of Covid-19 in China has halted most China-Europe export freight trains in February, with some import freight trains operating as normal, transport companies said. Before Russia banned the entry of Chinese nationals in an effort to contain the virus’ spread, all direct trains to Russia departing from Zhengzhou in Henan province had been canceled. Loaded with machines, clothes, electronics and bearings, a China-Europe freight train on February 18 set out from Zhengzhou and began its journey to Hamburg, Germany. It was the Henan-based supply chain management company Jinhongluo’s first dispatch since the outbreak began. “We had scheduled 20 freight trains to travel to Hamburg, Munich and Liege in February, but only two have been secured so far. One set out on February 18 and another will start a round-trip journey to Hamburg on February 28,” Liu Fang, Sales Manager at Jinhongluo Supply Chain Management Co, told the Global Times.
The number of trains from Zhengzhou to Europe decreased significantly in February compared with last year, as most factories halted production amid the coronavirus onslaught, and the trains could not be filled, according to Liu. “We were told that direct trains to Russia had been canceled and that any train to Europe could not stop in Russia,” Liu said, noting that Chinese train drivers do not go all the way to Europe, and drivers from the next country will continue to replace the previous drivers as normal. With the exception of Russia, there is no limitation from any other country along the Zhengzhou to Germany route, Liu noted.
The epidemic also stopped 90% of shipments of Shaanxi Further Strategy Supply Chain Management Co in Shaanxi province, which sends furniture, clothes and machines to Germany and countries in Central Asia. “We usually dispatch 600 to 700 containers per month, but now the number has decreased to about 100,” Manager Xu Yuanyuan told the Global Times, adding the estimated loss for his company would surpass CNY300,000. Delayed resumption of production, traffic blockages across China and lack of staff are the main difficulties for Xu’s company. The number of entry and exit trains from Alashankou Port in Xinjiang has dropped to one or two per day, Xinjiang-based news site ts.cn reported. Horgos Port in Xinjiang has also seen a significant decline in numbers. A few China-Europe freight trains have partly resumed operation since mid-February, including those from Shilong in Guangdong and Nanchang in Jiangxi province, the Global Times reports.
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