JSC RZD Logistics, one of the leading companies on the Russian forwarding services market, made a proposal to Indian companies to expand the potential cargo traffic volume of the North-South ITC at the 23rd Biennial Convention of the Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) in Cochin, India. State ministers and senior government officials of India and more than 500 delegates from several countries attended the Convention.
In a presentation “The Development of the North-South ITC: Problems and Solutions”, Denis Mazurin, the Business Development Director of RZD Logistics, noted the increasing trade volumes between India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia, and cited the first successful example of mutual efforts – the transportation of industrial radiators from India to Russia.
Shipment through the North-South ITC (International Transport Corridor) from India to Russia was first tested by RZD Logistics in cooperation with TransContainer, Iranian Railways, Azerbaijan Railways and forwarder ADY Express in October 2016. The transit time totaled 22 days. The multimodal route (including ship, rail and road) starts in India and passes through Iran and Azerbaijan to Russia. The new route makes it possible to halve the delivery time, obviating the need to use the traditional route via the Suez Canal, and offers shipping rates that are 20% lower than rail rates through Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
During his speech, Mr. Mazurin mentioned the main problems of the North-South ITC and their solutions. RZD Logistics is considering the possibility of simplifying workflow by introducing a single transport document for the entire multimodal roundtrip route from India to Russia. This will help cut the number of shipping documents and prevent errors in the SMGS consignment note, as well as optimize transit time.
“We are looking forward to the development of the service, and plan to redirect around 12,000-15,000 container shipments of current annual cargo traffic to this corridor as part of Phase 1. RZD Logistics is looking to increase export transportation from the Russian Federation and Europe to the Middle East and India,” said Mr. Mazurin.
In November 2016, RZD Logistics and the FFFAI signed a strategic partnership agreement aimed at coordinating efforts toward the development of the North-South ITC. The parties agreed to expand the number of contacts with Russian and Indian freighters in order to attract cargoes to the corridor.
