Dutch food products can now also go to China by train. On the return journey, Chinese products like electronics are on board.
Nunner Logistics' new container line to China's east coast opens new opportunities for fast and environmentally friendly transport of Dutch fresh products such as vegetables, fruit, cheese and dairy including baby food, as well as other food and retail products. Similarly, our beer, luxury clothing and electronics are rapidly becoming more popular with Chinese consumers.
The first direct connection is a fast, cheap and environmentally friendly transport alternative for the rapidly increasing flow of products between the Netherlands and China's east coast with its emerging markets.
The container train departs from the port of Amsterdam and travels around 11,000 kilometres via Russia and Kazakhstan in sixteen days to its final destination Yiwu in eastern China. Currently, one train with over 40 containers leaves for the east every week, but the service is expected to expand to two or three weekly services there and back already in the short term.
There is now interest in the new line from the cheese sector, among others, because of the trade embargo with Russia. A new route past the embargo via a non-Russian route is in the pipeline. This embargo-free route will become operational within a few months, according to a Nunner spokesman.
With the new line, Nunner Logistics adds Amsterdam to its Chinese rail network. "Amsterdam is Europe's largest port after Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg and therefore an important transport hub. The new connection makes it even easier for transporters, retailers and brands from the Netherlands and surrounding countries to trade with and from China," said CEO Erwin Cootjans. The logistics provider already operates direct trains between China and Neuss (Germany) and Moscow.
The train journey of over two weeks between Amsterdam and Yiwu is about half as fast as container ships. Air freight to China, although three to five days in transit, is a more expensive and less sustainable logistics option.
The train connection is an initiative of Nunner Logistics, TMA Logistics, Port of Amsterdam and Rail Cargo Group. The demand for goods transport to and from China is increasing, especially now that delivery times by sea have increased because ships have been slowing down for some time to save fuel. Transport by train is a faster alternative. At the same time, the costs are much lower than what air transport costs.
The New Silk Road
With the new train connection, the Netherlands is better connected to the One Belt, One Road programme, a reintroduction of the legendary Silk Road that was the main transit route between Europe and Asia for centuries.
One Belt, One Road programme is an initiative of the Chinese government to better connect the Asian country with sales markets in the rest of the world. The programme refers to the ancient Silk Road along which the lucrative silk trade was carried out since the Han Dynasty. Meanwhile, more than 60 countries are already involved in the programme, which consists of a new route by water in addition to the rail link.
