In connection with current events in the Middle East, interest in rail transport from China to the Czech Republic is growing. For many companies today, they represent an interesting alternative between fast but expensive air transport and cost-effective, but slower sea transport. The standard time from the start of the transport to the final handover to the recipient is usually 25 days from the departure of the train from Xian Station. However, the last shipment took only 18 days.
PST CLC Mitsui-Soko is responding to the growing demand by increasing capacity. „Instead of one, we now dispatch up to three collection containers every week. This allows customers to respond more flexibly to their logistics needs and better plan deliveries in a situation where part of the supply chains is facing higher uncertainty,“ says Jan Bláha, Transport Director at PST CLC Mitsui-Soko.
Sea freight remains a very cost-effective solution for companies, but they are not always able to meet the requirements for delivery dates. „We have a lot of customers from the automotive segment. They need to ensure that deliveries are time-based with respect to the agreed dates, air transport is expensive for them and sea freight is slow for them. We also transport various public contracts, textiles, etc.,“ says Miroslava Pavlíčková, Sea & Air Forwarding Manager at PST CLC Mitsui-Soko.
According to her, interest in rail transport from China is also increasing due to the rise in sea transport prices. „The price difference between rail and sea transport is no longer so striking. In addition, we use fast services, so the trains dispatched with our containers have priority when crossing Kazakhstan, where the track gauge changes, so it is necessary to reload the containers there. Thanks to this, our containers are not staying anywhere at the moment,“ says Miroslava Pavlíčková.
It is the combination of speed, greater predictability and better affordability compared to air transport that makes rail an increasingly attractive choice for companies that need to maintain the continuity of supply and production. An overview of the movement of shipments also plays an important role.
The deconsolidation of shipments takes place at the PST CLC Mitsui-Soko distribution center in the Czech Republic. The company is thus able to guarantee customers maximum overview of shipments and at the same time ensure their further effective distribution according to the specific requirements of recipients.
