RLL Container Report - 01 February 2017
From: John Keir, Ross Learmont Ltd. Email: john.keir@telia.com Date: 01 February 2017
In the bleak mid-winter, frosty wind made moan ...
In the coming months, engineers expect to lay the final section of the rail track, which will link the Turkish rail network at Kars with both Georgia and Azerbaijan. Once this section is completed, there will be a rail connection running all the way from Iran’s border with Azerbaijan up to Istanbul and from there to all points in the European Union. As well as providing a Standard gauge link from Kars all the way to the North Atlantic Ocean, the line will give the EU access to the two former republics of the Soviet Union. As it heads west, the new rail line passes through both Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku and Tbilisi, the seat of power of the neighbouring republic of Georgia. On this stretch of the journey through the Caucasus, the gauge changes to the broad gauge network. In addition, the line also passes close to Georgia’s border with neighbouring Armenia, which the European Union will be keen to “bring into the fold”.
The Azeris have prepared for the tie-up with the Iranian network by extending their line by 200 metres into the territory of the Islamic Republic. For their part, the Iranians have allocated USD 572 million to a number of major rail projects that will greatly improve the quality and speed of rail travel all the way from the Caspian Sea to the Arabian Gulf. In order to ensure that adequate funds are available to fund the undertaking, the government in Teheran has decreed that one percent of oil revenues will be ploughed into upgrading the rail network. The Iranian Football Association may try to use the new rail link in order to seek entry into the various UEFA competitions.
However, Europe may be more interested in Iran’s ability to provide a wide range of fresh fruits. Frost as far south as the Balkans in the middle of January has jeopardised Greece’s orange harvest. At the same time, low temperatures have delayed the strawberry harvest in the province of Huelva, Spain. Italy is the EU's largest fruit and vegetable producer, with 24 million tonnes, of which about 13 million are in the form of vegetables. Normally, around one third of the Italian harvest is earmarked for export and the rest covers the domestic demand. However, due to damage caused to the harvest, Italy has had to rely on imports in order to meet its domestic demand. In previous years, European importers would have purchased additional supplies of fruit and vegetables from Morocco but even that country on the southern shore of the Mediterranean has been hit by a serious frost.
Fortunately, help is near at hand. By this time next year, Iranian rail engineers should have laid the line from the Iranian border crossing point at Astara via Rasht to the important rail junction at Qazvin. Then, all one needs is a steady supply of 40’ HC refrigerated containers and a number of power generators, coupled up to fuel tanks. The rail engineers from the Caucasus will be very familiar with reefer block trains and can monitor the generator and reefer equipment to the final destination in Northern Europe. From Qazvin, it is less than 5,000 km by reefer block train to the main distribution centre at Duisburg. The fruit and vegetable problem in the European Union is solved, courtesy of the new line from Kars to Baku and Iran.
John Keir, Ross Learmont Ltd.
01 February 2017
Copyright ©, 2017, John Keir