Where to put it?
Containers from China are piling up in Russia
September 29, 2023, 2:05 p.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
Russian trade relations with China are booming – in one direction. The world’s second largest economy is literally flooding Russia with its goods. This is demonstrated not least by the 150,000 containers that can hardly be processed anymore.
Trade between Russia and China is booming. At least the Chinese are exporting more and more. This also has an impact on container shipping: There are currently 150,000 containers in Russia that are difficult to process from rail depots.
The changing trade flows are causing extensive logistical problems and congestion on the Russian side. Because more and more Chinese goods are flowing into the country, but far fewer are flowing out. This emerges from an analysis by the trading platform Container xChange. “There is significant freight traffic from China to Russia, but very little return transport. The containers are piling up in Russia, which means that prices for used containers in Russia are very low,” “CNN Money” quotes xChange co-founder Christian Roeloffs.
The glut of containers has caused used 40-foot containers to record a massive loss in value since the beginning of last year. The average price has fallen to $580 this week – compared to $4,175 in February 2022. “Many Chinese companies are selling containers below the market price to get rid of them because it makes no sense to send them back to China,” explains Roeloffs, explaining the price development. According to data from Container xChange, the price of new containers has fallen from $4,309 before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to $1,450. According to the report, companies therefore prefer to sell transportable containers in good condition that cost less on the local market.
According to the trading platform, this is a direct result of the deepening trade imbalance between Russia and China. Trade between the two countries rose 37 percent to 134.1 billion in the first seven months of this year, Container xChange reports, citing Chinese customs data.
Russian port activity almost at pre-war levels
China’s exports to Russia rose by 73 percent and reached around 62.54 billion dollars, while imports from Russia increased by 15 percent to 71.6 billion dollars. Russia expects trade with China to reach a record $200 billion this year. For comparison: In 2022 it was still at 185 billion dollars.
Most recently, the Kiel Trade Indicator figures for world trade in August showed that Russian port activity has almost returned to pre-war levels. In particular, arrivals at Russia’s most important container port, St. Petersburg, had meanwhile fallen by 90 percent and have therefore risen sharply again in the past few weeks. However, the economists were unable to determine with certainty where the goods came from based on the container ship movements.