This week, a China-Europe freight train departed from Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province, bound for Azerbaijan via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor.
According to Azertag, the first direct China-Europe freight service from Wuhan to Baku is carrying electronic equipment, household appliances and everyday consumer goods to European markets.
Passing through the Khorgos border crossing in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the train will continue across the Caspian Sea to reach Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.
Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) will reportedly transfer the goods from Baku Port to container block trains bound for Europe.
This multimodal journey, which combines rail and maritime transport, is expected to take 18 days, compared to the usual timeframe of up to 22 days.
This new route is expected to provide export-oriented enterprises in Hubei with efficient, stable logistics, facilitating their expansion into emerging Eurasian markets.
Wuhan has emerged as a key hub for China-Europe freight train services, linking central China with over 100 cities in more than 40 Eurasian countries through an expanding network of over 50 routes. Primarily departing from Wujiashan and Xianglushan railway stations, these trains transport a variety of goods, including electronics, automotive parts, and household appliances.
The network is set to grow further in 2025 and 2026, with new routes being launched that will strengthen Wuhan’s role in Eurasian logistics. The latest additions include direct services to Northern Europe, such as Copenhagen in Denmark, as well as a new connection to Baku in Azerbaijan via the Middle Corridor.
Key destinations served by Wuhan’s freight trains include major logistics and industrial centres such as Hamburg in Germany, as well as cities in Russia, Poland, and the Nordic region, including Sweden and Norway.
Wuhan’s rail freight services also benefit from logistical advantages, including integrated customs clearance at Xianglushan Station.
Compared to traditional international logistics routes, the Middle Corridor offers lower geopolitical risk, a more resilient supply chain, and more straightforward transport connections.
If Your Rate Is Not Visible, It Is Not Sold
Industry Roundtable | Hong Kong | 14 May 2026
In container logistics, bookings are increasingly driven not only by price, but by how quickly and easily customers can access and book a service.
If customers have to wait for a quotation, they are often already comparing and booking alternative solutions elsewhere.
This session explores a practical question:
How can the same transport service generate more bookings without changing the service itself?
Topics covered:
• Why faster access to rates increasingly drives booking decisions
• How service visibility affects sales performance
• How transport services can be combined into complete end-to-end supply chains
• How a single service can be sold across multiple markets and customer scenarios
• How AI can help create and manage multimodal transport services in seconds
• How connected rates enable automatic updates across suppliers, logistics providers and customers
• Practical approaches to scaling logistics services beyond manual processes
Live demonstrations include:
• Making services easier to access and book
• Expanding services across multiple markets
• Creating and managing multimodal transport services in seconds
• Practical cooperation models for carriers and logistics providers
Organized by Maxmodal with the support of Cyberport and the Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association. The seminar focused on practical examples of how digital technologies, connected rate networks and AI can help carriers, freight forwarders, terminals and logistics providers improve service visibility and generate more bookings.
#ContainerLogistics #MultimodalTransport #Shipping #OceanFreight #SupplyChain #FreightForwarding #LogisticsTechnology #DigitalLogistics #ContainerShipping #MaritimeIndustry #Transportation #AI #RateManagement #BookingManagement #Maxmodal
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The price of container freight from Shanghai to various destinations around the world rose last week as evident by the latest figures from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), published by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
The index rose by 1.9% to 1,890.77 last week, following a 1.5% increase the previous week.
Before the war in the Middle East broke out, the index stood at 1,333.11.
On Thursday, data from the World Container Index (WCI), compiled by the consulting firm Drewry and based on a 40-foot container, showed an increase of 0.9% to $2,308.78.
The index has risen for six consecutive weeks as the situation in the Middle East continues to force shipping companies to sail in a wide arc around the Red Sea.
The SCFI index peaked in early January 2022 at 5,109.60, while the most recent significant low was 931.89 in the week ending October 27, 2023.
If your cargo is time-sensitive, February just made the choice clearer.
We’ve added transit time into the Maxmodal indices — and the picture changed.
Rail is getting faster.
Sea is getting cheaper.
But they are not converging.
They are diverging.
Rail = speed
Sea = cost
And this is no longer a temporary imbalance.
It’s becoming the new structure of the market.
Full February report
MSC Mediterranean Shipping Companyextended its dominance in February, with its fleet capacity surpassing 7.2 million TEU , equivalent to approximately 21.4 percent of the entire global container ship fleet.
The Geneva-based group now operates 980 vessels in active service, of which 727 ships totaling 4.55 million TEU are owned outright and 253 ships accounting for 2.65 million TEU are chartered. A further 2.18 million TEU remains on order, one of the highest orderbook-to-fleet ratios among the top ten carriers.
Despite this scale, MSC’s fleet is among the oldest operated by any major carrier, with an average vessel age approaching 17 years. This contrasts sharply with Evergreen, which runs the youngest fleet among the top 20 carriers at an average age of 9.3 years across nearly 240 ships totaling close to 2 million TEU. Wan Hai Lines ranks second at 9.4 years and HMMthird at 9.6 years, having recently crossed the 1 million TEU capacity milestone.
DP World has signed a five-year agreement with Suzano, one of the world's largest pulp and paper producers, to manage warehouse and production line supply operations at a facility in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Espírito Santo.
The contract expands DP World's contract logistics footprint in Brazil and reinforces its integrated approach to port and inland logistics.
The nearly 5,000 square metre facility is embedded within Suzano's Consumer and Tissue division manufacturing plant and became operational in February.
DP World's scope of work covers inbound receiving, inventory management, production line replenishment, and outbound distribution of finished tissue products including toilet paper, napkins and paper towels.
The facility supports daily production of approximately 19,000 bales, with inbound handling capacity of up to 152 tonnes per day and outbound distribution capacity of 128 tonnes per day.
Distribution serves consumer markets across Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Brazil's Central-West region.
The agreement extends a longstanding commercial relationship between the two companies at the Port of Santos, where DP World manages Brazil's largest and most modern pulp export warehouse, with annual handling capacity of up to five million tonnes.
Fabio Siccherino, CEO of DP World in Brazil, framed the deal as a demonstration of the company's ability to connect port operations, warehousing and inland distribution into a coherent logistics chain.
Nilton Sampaio, Executive Supply Chain Manager at Suzano, described the arrangement as part of a broader effort to build a more agile and sustainable logistics operation.
DP World's Santos terminal recorded 1.3 million TEUs in 2025, a new operational record surpassing the 1.25 million TEUs handled in 2024.
Across Brazil, the company now operates nearly 100,000 square metres of contract logistics capacity.
Since entering the Brazilian market in 2013, DP World has invested R$3 billion in port infrastructure, logistics and multimodal connectivity.
The price of container freight from Shanghai to several destinations around the world rose last week.
This is shown by the latest figures from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), published by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
The index rose by 6.5% to 1333.11 last week. The increase follows six weeks of continuous decline. There were no figures from the SCFI index last week due to the Chinese New Year celebrations.
On Thursday, data from the World Container Index (WCI), compiled by consultancy Drewry on Thursday and applicable to a 40-foot container, showed a 1.1% drop from the previous week.
The SCFI index peaked in early January 2022 at 5109.60, while the most recent significant low was 931.89 in the week leading up to October 27, 2023.
Port of Auckland has released its half-year results reporting solid financial and operational performance across its key business segments and confirming it remains on track to meet full-year targets.
Revenue for the period reached NZD 204.3 million, an increase of NZD 8.8 million or 4.5 percent on the first half of FY25.
Underlying net profit after tax came in at NZD 53.8 million, up NZD 11.8 million or 28.1% on the comparable prior period.
The Port of Auckland Board declared an interim dividend of NZD 26 million to Auckland Council on the back of these results.
Volume growth was a primary driver of the improved performance. The Container Terminal averaged 16,800 TEU per week, contributing to total half-year throughput of close to 500,000 TEU.
Car import volumes rebounded strongly, rising 22 percent year-on-year, while bulk and breakbulk cargo reached 1.7 million tonnes and vehicle throughput totalled 100,000 units across the period.
Alongside revenue growth, the port maintained firm control over its cost base, with direct operating expenses down 3% on the same period last year.
CEO Roger Gray attributed the results to operational discipline and the safe management of higher cargo volumes, and pointed to emerging signs of broader economic strengthening in the Auckland region as a positive indicator for the second half of the financial year.
