The growth was also shown by the railways

In 2022, throughput of the Leningrad Region ports increased by 10%, shipments by the railways also show an increase, Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the Leningrad Region (CICLR) says referring to the experts who spoke at the meeting of the regional committee for transport and forwarding services.

As ИАА «ПортНьюс» wrote earlier, throughput of seaports in the Baltic Basin totaled 245.5 million tonnes in 2022, down 2.9%, year-on-year. The port of Ust-Luga handled 124.1 million tonnes (+13.5%), Primorsk — 57.1 million tonnes (+7.8%), Vysotsk — 16 million tonnes (-5.2%).

According to the statement of CICLR, RZD Logistics also considers the North-South corridor as a way to deliver cargo to the markets of China, Asia and the Persian Gulf.

Yelena Dyukayeva, Vice President of CICLR said that a route via Iran and India would let decrease the load on the railway and open the way to eastern markets for our entrepreneurs.

North-South international transport corridor (ITC) is a 7,200-kilometre-long transport artery from St Petersburg to ports in Iran and India. North-South ITC has a western and an eastern branch, both running across Iran. The western one foresees cargo transportation by road via Rasht, the eastern one – by railway. The end point in Iran is the port of Bandar Abbas from which cargo can be delivered to India by sea. The western branch also crosses Azerbaijan, the eastern one – Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Besides, direct water transportation from Russia to Iran by the Caspian Sea is possible.

The volume of Russian cargo transported by the North-South ITC is expected to double by 2030, from the current 17 million tonnes to 32 million tonnes.

Cargo traffic on the international transport corridor North-South ITC can reach 35 million tonnes by 2030, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Marat Khusnullin said on 18 May 2023. Previously, it was expected to reach 32 million tonnes.