Kazakhstan has sharply increased its rail shipments of grain and coal through Russia, with the eastern route of the North-South transport corridor seeing a major rise in traffic, according to the country’s national railway operator, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ).
In the first quarter of 2025, container traffic along this key corridor rose by 63%, reaching over 1,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). The North-South corridor connects Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran, and can handle up to 10 million tons of cargo per year. Its eastern route, which runs through Kazakhstan, is becoming an essential trade link in the region.
Between September 2024 and April 2025, Kazakhstan exported more than 650,000 tons of grain through Russian and Baltic Sea ports. At the same time, containerized freight moving between China and Russia via Kazakhstan grew by 30% compared to the same period last year, exceeding 132,000 TEU.
Coal exports through Russian territory saw the most dramatic growth. From January to March 2025, Kazakhstan shipped 2.3 million tons of coal—up 44.5% from the same period in 2024. Of this, 1.3 million tons went through Baltic Sea ports, while about 900,000 tons were sent via the Azov and Black Sea ports, representing a fivefold increase from last year.
On April 28, officials from KTZ and Russian Railways met in Almaty to strengthen cooperation. Both sides agreed to boost shipments of Kazakh coal to Russian ports and to move forward with joint strategic projects.
This follows a key agreement signed in November 2024, in which the two railway companies committed to modernizing infrastructure at nine border stations. The plan includes increasing capacity and creating a shared digital system to improve transport efficiency and cross-border logistics.
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