Gholam-Hossein Valadi, the Director General of Iran’s North Railway Administration, reported to the media that freight traffic on the Iran-Azerbaijan route has increased by 28% in the eleven months leading up to February. He anticipates that the growth for the full year will exceed the record figures of 2022.
According to Valadi, from March 2023 to February 2024, the rail freight volume between the two nations reached 645,000 tonnes, up from 501,000 tonnes in the previous year. Despite the clear growth, details about the specific cargo volumes are somewhat vague. Reports indicate that Iran imported 206,000 tonnes from Azerbaijan, marking a 58% increase year over year. However, export figures from Iran were mainly attributed to the Astara Rail Terminal, totaling 167,000 tonnes.
The composition of these freight volumes is not fully detailed, but it is reported that the cargo includes perishables, cement, chemicals, and tiles.
The rail route connecting Iran and Azerbaijan is a critical part of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which Iranian Vice President Mohammad Mokhber highlighted as “important and strategic” for the region. His remarks came during a meeting with Alexander Novak, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, in Tehran last week.
Further expansion of Eurasian rail freight links includes recent announcements of two significant developments: the creation of a logistics hub in Moscow to facilitate connections between China, Kazakhstan, and Russia, and reports that Maksat Kalialparov, Deputy Minister of Transport, confirmed Kazakhstan’s plans for a joint venture with Russia and Turkmenistan.
Kazakhstan has been a leading advocate for the INSTC, aiming to establish itself as a regional transit hub for rail freight moving from China to Iran and Russia, and further into Europe.
The INSTC route is demonstrating positive growth and future potential, with a 4% increase in volumes last year, reaching 2.1 million tonnes. Projections suggest that annual volumes could reach 10 million tonnes by 2027, underscoring the corridor’s expanding role in Eurasian trade and logistics.
