Some 1.5 million tons of cargo transported via Middle Corridor in 2022

In 2022, 1.5 million tons of cargo was transported along the Middle Corridor (Trans-Caspian international transport route) through the Caspian Sea.

According to Report, this was reported by Gaidar Abdikerimov, Secretary General of the International Association Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.

"These cargoes were transported through the ports of Kuryk and Aktau in Kazakhstan and Alyat and Hovsan in Azerbaijan. Last year, Kazakhstan's exports through the Middle Corridor increased eightfold compared to the previous year. This was mainly due to container shipments," he noted.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), known as the Middle Corridor, is a multilateral institutional development linking the containerized rail freight transport networks of China and the European Union through the economies of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Türkiye, and Eastern Europe.

The multilateral, multimodal transport institution links Caspian and Black Sea ferry terminals with rail systems in China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and Poland.

Trans-Eurasian and intra-Eurasian rail freight development remains fundamentally policy- and subsidy-driven on China side, yet dependent on European Union demand-side drivers to create traffic flow volumes.

The development of the Middle Corridor, though, is institutionally independent and potentially transformative for the economies of Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Türkiye.