Kazakhstan considers exporting coal to Europe via Trans-Caspian international transport corridor

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International Business News  –  Secretary General of the International Association of Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor Gaidar Abdikerimov, at a seminar with the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan on September 7, proposed to export Kazakhstan coal in soft containers through the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor (TMTM). He said that it would be difficult for the Kazakh side to use its own terminal because the Georgian port of Batumi is located in the center of the tourist city.

Gaidar Abdikerimov said that the limitation of Batumi port is that it is located in the middle of the city and not all Kazakh cargoes pass through it. But now the American and European partners have brought new technologies and they want to solve the problem of coal transportation in this direction using soft containers.

He noted that the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor has always directed cargo to Batumi, but the port is currently “very busy” with mineral fertilizers, metal products, oil and petroleum products. The port is located in the tourist area of the city center and has limited transshipment capacity compared to the current demand.

Speaking at the AMM-2022 conference, Turar Zholmagambetov, deputy chairman of the Industrial Development Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development, said that Kazakhstan’s exporters will lose about $300 million in coal sales to Europe due to sanctions against Russia.

From August 10, the embargo of EU countries on Russian coal came into effect. Turar Zholmagambetov said the Kazakh side calculated the possible losses while maintaining the status quo. Previously, Kazakhstan and Russia, especially Russian Railways and Kazakhstan Railways, as well as Kazakhstan’s coal export companies reached a transport agreement. But shipments have been problematic since April due to sanctions against Russia. If the current status quo, coal exports lost about 300 million US dollars. Next year, if this continues, the loss will be as high as $400 million.

Meanwhile, Russian Railways rejected a previously announced plan to export Kazakh coal to Europe, according to Nurzhan Kelbuganov, executive director of Kazakhstan Railway Cargo.