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Amid soaring China exports, Europe’s ports are feeling the heat

Amid heatwaves, strikes and surging import volumes, strains on the transport network are causing frequent logistics bottlenecks

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A China-Europe freight train departing from Tongjiang North Railway Station in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on August 9, 2024. Photo: Xinhua
Huizhao Huangin BerlinandJi Siqiin Beijing
With summer temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius across several European countries, westbound trade from China is heating up just as fast – despite growing concerns among EU politicians over widening trade imbalances.

Prompted by soaring shipments, congestion along the China-Europe Railway Express has worsened during the past few months, according to industry insiders.

“The congestion used to be at China’s departure ports. Now it has shifted to Europe’s ports of entry,” said Andrew Jiang, general manager of freight forwarder Air Sea Transport, which specialises in shipping goods via rail.

While Jiang said the Europe-bound export orders his company handled in June dropped a bit from May’s peak, the latest Chinese customs data showed that the country’s exports to the European Union rose 18.5 per cent year on year in June, more than double the previous month’s growth rate.
Air conditioners embodied the boom, with exports to the EU rising 43.2 per cent year on year to a record US$3.76 billion in the first half, according to a People’s Daily report, citing Chinese customs data.

“Amid frequent extreme heat around the world, exports of ‘cooling’ appliances – including air conditioners, fans and refrigerators – totalled 107.91 billion yuan (US$15.94 billion),” Wang Jun, vice-minister of the General Administration of Customs, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

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