RTSB Poland: In 2023, the flow of China-Europe train to Mara will return to or exceed the pre-epidemic level

Joanna Kujko, the brand manager of RTSB Poland Branch, the operator of the overseas section of the China-Europe train, said recently that from their train service orders, the supply chain disruption caused by the epidemic and the Russian-Uzbekistan war had little impact on the operation of the China-Europe train and the trend of more and more containerized transport of goods; In 2023, the flow of China-Europe trains to Poland will return to or exceed the level of 2019 before the epidemic.

The following is an interview with Joanna Kujko, the Polish manager of RTSB:

What is your main business? How many fixed transportation routes are there?

We are the Polish branch of German RTSB Co., Ltd. and the leading railway operator on the New Silk Road. Among the 21 branches of the group, the Polish branch is second only to the Shanghai branch and the German headquarters. The Polish branch of RTSB cooperates with the Polish Eurasian railway carrier ERC in Malashevich to provide comprehensive transit services for the entire container train. We also cooperate with PKP Cargo and other companies.

We have a total of 9 routes, including routes to and from Chengdu, Xi'an, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Hefei, Changsha and other hub cities in China. Some of the connecting terminals are Malashevic, while others connect Lodz, Duisburg, Hamburg, Noyes, Nuremberg, Tilburg and Budapest.

Which of these lines have reduced the number of train operations due to the epidemic or war?

On the whole, the number of trains in 2022 has not decreased significantly at almost all times. Some reduction only occurred in November and December. Compared with last year, on some routes, we observed a drop of about 30% at most, such as Chengdu-Tilburg; On other routes, the decline of Chengdu - Lodz and Zhengzhou - Hamburg is between 5% and 10%. I want to emphasize that after the outbreak of the epidemic, although the outside world is worried about the survival of the industry, in fact, the results in 2020 and 2021 are very good. By the end of the year, the number of China-EU trains served has increased year-on-year. In contrast, the outbreak of the Russian-Uzbekistan war means that we have to close the routine line service of Xi'an - Swafkuv.

Has the war led to a reduction in demand for Chinese goods?

Our observation shows that after the outbreak of the war, the transportation volume of high-value goods, mainly electronic products, automobiles and semi-finished products of the automobile industry, has decreased significantly. In my view, this is the result of the general uncertainty about the Sino-Europe train transportation, how the transit Russian transportation works, and the increase of insurance costs by insurance companies. However, in the last few months of last year, the above-mentioned goods sector began to resume normalization. Recently, we have also observed that operators have launched new line connections, such as the Czech Republic - Kazakhstan - this line also naturally passes through Malashevic. In late autumn last year, the number of trains departing from China decreased.

Can we say that China's role in the European supply chain is decreasing due to the reduced railway traffic and the diversification of supply sources and production strategies implemented by many companies?

We are not sure. Although we have colleagues in Shanghai, we have not formally discussed these topics. However, I would rather attribute the reduction in the number of trains last year to the decline in Chinese production and the result of strict local epidemic prevention and control measures.

From the data of January 2023, what is the estimate of the operation of China-EU train in 2023?

The situation is similar to that in previous years, that is, between January and February, the flow of trains around the Chinese New Year is always relatively small. However, according to the notified orders, the number of trains in February and March will increase by several percentage points compared with last December. We predict that 2023 will return to the level of 2020 and 2019 before the epidemic. At the end of this year, the number of trains we operate should be at least similar to that in 2019, or achieve a growth trend. Of course, everything will depend on the development of the global geopolitical situation.

In recent months, has there been any change in the freight rate of the China-EU train, especially on the basis of rising fuel prices?

In the China-Kazakhstan-Russia-Belarus section, the freight rate has changed little, because these countries have not felt the significant impact of the increase in energy prices. On the contrary, it is the EU road section west of Malashevic. Compared with last year, the current freight rate has increased significantly. Some sections have even increased by more than 20%. Of course, this is also related to the pricing policy used by the carrier.

Do you confirm the view that since Malashevich has reached the maximum capacity of its service, there has been a problem with the smooth reception and arrival of the 2019 train? And since the number of China-EU trains departing is increasing in a planned way, will this problem still arise?

In 2019, the border between Poland and Belarus was indeed congested. A large number of trains come from China. The Malashevich station cannot handle the reloading of these train containers, and there is no space to store and evacuate containers. But now, the station can ensure the regular reception of container trains.

Some countermeasures have been taken in the whole Malashevich region, and the plan of Cargotor to continue to build a logistics center is also under way. However, I believe that the main factor affecting the smooth operation of container trains is the EU embargo on Russia and Belarus, and the number of trains on the Russia/Belarus - EU route (since the first sanctions plan was issued) has been greatly reduced, or even reduced to zero, such as coal trains. On the other hand, there is no doubt that it is necessary to modernize the railway infrastructure of the whole region from the border, first of all, the border bridge Brze ść - Terespol is expanding and modernizing, not just making a single investment.

As early as 2012, RTSB opened the first train from Germany to Malashevich, and then opened the train to China a year later. What has changed in the industry over the years?

We strive to ensure customer satisfaction. In this industry, "information" about goods is very important. Each customer will be informed of the release of his goods from the delivery to the container. As one of the few companies, we have introduced new solutions. For example, we plan to implement electronic waybills in the whole road section from Malashevich to China Railway Station. However, this is related to EU customs regulations, and we have no influence on these regulations. The myTransoffice program is specially written for our needs, which is conducive to providing comprehensive transit transfer services. To sum up, from our perspective, significant progress has been made in organizing the transport of China-EU trains.

What aspects of development are not satisfactory?

What I want to say more is that there is a deadlock in improving the transportation time of the train. At present, the average transportation time from the hub city in western China to Malashevich is 8-9 days, but unfortunately, some trains take 14 days or more (this is related to the weather conditions in Kazakhstan and the congestion at the border between China and Kazakhstan). However, we have proved in 2016 that the China-EU train transportation from Chengdu to Lodz can be completed in 7 days. Maintaining such a level is indeed revolutionary for the China-Europe train, because the efficiency is almost the same as that of air transportation.

What is the problem?

The operation of many entities can be further optimized. There are two important points. First of all, from some stations in China, such as Xi'an, there are many public trains that carry containers to various destinations in the EU. Some destinations are Malashevic, some Hamburg, and some Duisburg. So in Malashevich, we must rearrange the container and the train and put the appropriate containers together. As a result, if we do not have enough containers at the same destination, they will have to wait for the next batch of containers to arrive, or the train will leave without full load. This slows down the transportation time. If the train to the same destination has been formed in China, it will be the best. Secondly, we see that the number of containers with "ordinary goods" is increasing, in fact, all kinds of goods. The key to the problem is that the customer should correctly issue documents (invoices and packing lists) to make the declared goods consistent with the actual status of the goods in the container.

What happens if it is not filled in correctly?

In this case, when these containers are randomly inspected by the customs, if there is any difference, the processing time may take several days or even dozens of days, and now it may even take several months to wait for the customs inspection. Soon we may witness a record of "almost a year of waiting for customs clearance". In 2019, this situation could be explained by the congestion of Malashevich, but now it is not. The problem lies not only in the shipper, but also in the lengthy procedure of Polish customs.