Azerbaijan boosts volume of cargo transported via Astara terminal

By Azernews

By Rasana Gasimova

The volume of cargo transported via Azerbaijan’s Astara railway terminal increased by 33 percent year-on-year in 2019, amounting to 363,842 tons, source within ADY Express”, a subsidiary of “Azerbaijan Railways” CJSC reported.

The terminal is used as a transit route for cargo transported from Russia to Iran and vice versa as part of the North-South International Transport Corridor that Azerbaijan is a member of.

The transported cargo mainly consists of wood and wooden products (48 percent of the total volume of transshipment cargo), cereals (17 percent), construction materials (18 percent), fruits, vegetables, containers and other goods (17 percent).

As for the volume of overfilled cargo during the day in 2019, the terminal carried an average of 23 cars or 1,373 tons of cargo, which in 2018 amounted to 16 cars or 1,056 tons of cargo, respectively. It should also be noted that in November 2019, the maximum load exceeded 40,472 tons, which is a record indicator of the volume of cargo carried over a month.

Azerbaijan’s involvement in the “North-South International Transport Corridor” project, along with the development of relations between Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran, contribute to the expansion of cooperation between Azerbaijan and other member states of the corridor.

Within the framework of the project, “Azerbaijan Railways” CJSC continues the construction of the Astara cargo terminal located near the Azerbaijani-Iranian border and on the territory of Iran.

Note that the construction of the Astara terminal within the “North-South” International Transport Corridor started in 2016, and the first phase of construction was completed in March 2018. Cargo transportation operations have been carried out at the terminal since February 2018.

The capacity of the terminal is 2 million tons annually, and it is planned to be increased to 5 million tons in the future.