Coal transfer from Kuzbass to India via the North-South international transport corridor is still unpromising

Alexander Titov, Head of the Global Oil Market Sector at the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Infotech Internet portal on the Russian coal supply along the North-South transport corridor.

Alexander Titov @IEFnotes noted to Infotech that the North-South route for coal exports cannot yet have great prospects in terms of volumes, as it has too many bottlenecks and an undeveloped infrastructure.

"The current state of the North-South infrastructure allows through-rail shipments to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas only along the Eastern Route through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan (Serakhs), as well as for deliveries across the Caspian Sea to the port of Amirabad (to the yet unelectrified section of the railway). Through-line railway deliveries to Iran with an eye to India along the western section of the MTK are impossible until the Astara-Rasht section is built, and this will be only in a few years in an optimistic scenario," Titov noted.

The expert stressed that travel along the Eastern route is still experiencing many difficulties. For example, according to the Argus survey, the bottleneck of the eastern branch is the border crossings on the border of Turkmenistan and Iran — the stations of Serakhs and Akyaila, where goods are transferred from the Russian gauge of 1520 mm standard to a gauge of 1435 mm wide. The capacity of Serakhs, located in the south of the country, can be up to four pairs of trains per day, however, market participants report that the station can hardly cope with one train, and the regulatory overload deadlines are not met.

"So far, there are too many bottlenecks and undeveloped infrastructure to increase coal transportation along the route. Therefore, in the next 1-2 years, North-South will not be able to transport volumes even closely comparable to traditional export destinations: the North-West or the Eastern Polygon," the analyst is sure.