Fesco proposes developing program to recycle empty containers

MOSCOW. Aug 21 (Interfax) - Fesco Transportation Group has proposed to develop a program to recycle shipping containers that have accumulated in the European part of Russia due to the imbalance in export and import freight shipments.

"We have an understanding that the amount of containers that we shipped into Russia will not disappear on its own. Therefore, a recycling program, like turning [them] in for scrap metal, would help a great deal," the executive director of group subsidiary Fesco Integrated Transport, Leonid Shlyakhturov said.

Container railway operators discussed the situation on the market Tuesday at a webinar on the "imbalance in freight traffic with China amid changes in the geography of international logistics."

Shlyakhturov said the cost of shipping a container from Russia to China is now about the same as the price of an empty container in China, the market rate for returning which is $2,500. He also cited statistics for 2023 according to which the amount of containers shipped into Russia last year exceeded the amount shipped out by 1 million TEU.

There are still problems with shipping containers to the Far East, Shlyakhturov said. In order to solve them, Fesco is proposing to switch to quarterly planning for issuing job orders for container trains to railway operators instead of monthly issuing.

He also said the combination of these negative factors is weighing heavily on the cost of shipments and forcing carriers to raise rates for shipments westward. Rates for railway shipments of containers from Vladivostok to Moscow are rising and have virtually reached pre-Covid levels, Shlyakhturov said, adding that the rate is now 400,000 rubles but it could reach the 2022 level of 450,000-500,000 rubles.

Given the problems with railway shipments of containers in Siberia, Fesco is switching some shipments to trucks, he said.