Cost Of China-Russia Shipping Containers Reduces, Volumes To Increase

The time and cost of shipping containers from China to Russia have significantly decreased, with the supply of transportation now exceeding shipping demand. The transportation time has dropped to three weeks, and the rates on the Shanghai-Moscow route are now about US$5,000 per container.

Oleg Poluektov, a Director of logistics for the Russian company ModernWay has stated “From November to February, tariffs for road and direct rail transportation from China to Russia decreased by 30%, and for sea shipments to ports in the Far East by 20%.”

The rapid drop in tariffs for rail transportation is due to a shortage of goods from China shipped to Russia the supply of transportation exceeds demand. The reason is the global reduction in the volume of Russian purchases from China, with orders from the fashion industry for the 2025 summer season reduced by 30-35%.

Igor Rebelsky a director of VIG Logistics has said that “This is partially due to the increase in the key bank lending rate, that has directly affected purchases of goods traditionally financed by loans, with the decline especially noticeable in the fashion segment.”

The resumption of external factors such as a rise in bank interest rates to fund imports, while impacting certain non-essential Russian importers, is also a sign that normal market factors are now replacing external factors such as the impact of sanctions on Russian imports which had previously been the main driver in determining import-export costs.

‘Right now the growth rate is 9 per cent. I think the year-on-year growth rate will be at least 8%. Because we have summer track work ahead of us. These winter months now are the maximum efficiency of the railway. But at the same time we are developing. I think that an increase in traffic of not less than 8% for the year’, – said RZD first deputy CEO Sergei Pavlov on the sidelines of the TransRussia exhibition.

In 2024, 175 million tonnes of freight were transported by rail between Russia and China, 14 million tonnes more than in 2023.