The volume of transshipment via the Baku Sea International Trade Port (Port of Baku) is expected to exceed 6 million tons by the end of 2022, the port’s strategic planning and development department head, Xudayar Hasanli said.

Noting that the capacity of the port’s Ro-Ro [ed. Roll-on/roll-off ships] terminal is 100,000 railways cars and 60,000 wheeled vehicles, he added that it is also equipped with terminals for the transshipment of containers and bulk goods.

“Some 5.5 million tons of cargo were transshipped in 2021 and 5.35 million tons in January-October 2022,” he said.

He noted that the transshipment volume of wheeled vehicles increased by 31.5 percent, of railway cars by 32.1 percent, and of TEU containers by 28.2 percent in the first ten months of 2022.

“Meanwhile, the transshipment of bulk goods decreased by 7.5 percent,” he said.

The official added that from 2023 it is planned to transship 1.5 million tons of oil from Kazakhstan to Europe through Azerbaijan.

At the same time, Khudayar Hasanli stated that Azerbaijan is planning to attract 60,000 wheeled vehicles (TIRs), or 50 percent of the total number to the Port of Baku in cooperation with Turkiye.

Noting that the traffic of wheeled vehicles between the Central Asian countries and Turkiye is about 120,000 TIRs, he stated that only about 20-25 percent of these fall to the share of Azerbaijan.

Expansion of port’s transshipment capacity

Moreover, the department head underlined that speeding up the expansion of the port’s transshipment capacity is of particular necessity.

Noting that the start of the second phase of the port construction is scheduled for 2023, he added that this phase provides for increasing cargo traffic volume to 25 million tons per year and 500,000 TEU containers.

“The port is currently building a mineral fertilizer terminal with an annual transshipment capacity of up to 3 million tons. In addition, designing a bulk cargo transshipment terminal is also underway,” he said.

Zangazur corridor

“The launch of the Zangazur corridor will reduce the time of cargo transshipment from China to Europe to two weeks,” he said.

Xudayar Hasanli added that the corridor’s launch will significantly reduce the cost of transportation and open new markets for Azerbaijan, including the transit of goods in the direction of Africa.

The Port of Baku is located in Alat at the intersection of two major transportation corridors, East-West and North-South. The port serves as a major intermodal distribution hub. It also uses an integrated development model that includes port activities, a bonded zone, the Alat township, and a variety of transportation and non-transportation projects.

It should be noted that the 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) is an amorphous unit of cargo capacity that is frequently used for container ships and container ports. It is based on the volume of a 20-foot-long (6.1-meter) intermodal container, which is a standard-sized metal box that can be easily transferred between modes of transportation such as ships, trains, and trucks, Azernews reports.