Spanish Transport Ministry launches pilot project to export 600 tonnes of corn from Ukraine
MOSCOW. Aug 11 (Interfax) - Renfe Mercancias, Spain's rail freight operator, has sent a pilot train consisting of 25 containers, inside which "liners" (large special bags for transporting grain) are installed, to Ukraine to transport 600 tonnes of Ukrainian corn along an alternative route bypassing Ukrainian seaports.
The project was launched by Spain's Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Development on August 9 as an alternative and additional route alongside transportation by sea, the Ukrainian media said on Wednesday evening, citing the ministry's website.
This is a pilot run with which the ministry seeks to demonstrate the technical and economic viability of cereal transportation using the railway that crosses Europe from Lodz (Poland) to Barcelona (Spain).
Specifically, outgoing traffic passes between Madrid, Ludwigshafen, Duisburg, Lodz and Chelm, while return traffic passes through Chelm, Lodz, Duisburg, and Barcelona via the railway, covering approximately 2,400 kilometres. The transport logistics are planned to be carried out between the Ukraine and Spain, with the goods being transhipped in Chelm (Poland), 25 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
The Renfe Mercancias containers that will carry Ukrainian corn will arrive in Chelm on August 22-28, after which they will be disinfected before proceeding to a terminal of the Kombiverker logistics operator in Lodz, the Spanish ministry said. Rail traffic between Lodz and Chelm will be handled by the Polish railway operator DBP.
After being loaded, the train will head back from Lodz to Barcelona on a standard-gauge railway. Upon arrival at a grain terminal in Barcelona, the cargo will be delivered to the end buyer. The pilot batch as part of this project is expected to arrive in Barcelona in early September.
"The first stages of this pilot project coincide with the opening of [Ukrainian] ports on the Black Sea coast and maritime grain transport routes under Turkey's supervision. Therefore, the first such train will carry 600 tonnes of corn, which is a smaller amount than was initially planned. At the same time, it is necessary to check the viability of this rail solution proposed by Spain as support of seaborne transport from Ukraine," the Spanish ministry said.
Thus, this pilot project is intended to analyze the capabilities of land transport routes as an alternative to seaborne exports from Ukraine and will be implemented under public-private coordination between representatives of the transport and raw materials industries of the European Union.