Thousands of Railcars Backed Up at the Chinese Border as Temir Joly Restricts Exports

Railway officials have claimed the Chinese side is delaying inspections and reducing the number of trains entering Kazakhstan, Orda.kz reports.

According to Kazakhstan Temir Joly (KTZ), China has cut the number of trains passing through the Altynkol border crossing from 14 to 10 per day, and on some days, as few as six.

This has caused a backlog of around 3,000 railcars carrying export and transit cargo, including grain.

Authorized Chinese authorities are conducting in-depth inspections of grain cargo, including sampling and laboratory analysis in Urumqi and Beijing. The inspection takes five to 10 days, KTZ representatives said.

Due to infrastructure congestion, KTZ has limited the number of container trains carrying grain to three per day. The company described this as a “necessary and temporary measure” to match the capacity of Chinese infrastructure.

China has previously restricted imports of Kazakhstan's grain, citing stricter phytosanitary requirements, a ban on imports to bonded zones, and a 65% import duty. 

These restrictions led to large numbers of wheat-laden railcars being returned, with losses borne by exporters.

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov