China is ready to build logistic park and dry port in Kazakhstan

Shandong Port Group (SPG) is going to build a new logistic park with warehouses and a dry port in the Almaty region. The project will provide businesses with access to markets in Korea, Japan, China, the EEU, Caucasus and the Middle East, according to the Kazakhstan Agency for Investment Cooperation (KAIC).

The new logistic hub is expected to be built along the railway to bypass the city of Almaty. The railway is currently under construction. As Erlan Koyshibayev, deputy head of Kazakhstan Railways said, the two sides are currently preparing a technical and economic feasibility study of the project.

The new project will focus on bond warehouses (buildings or secured areas where dutiable goods may be stored, manipulated, or manufactured without payment of duty) and the development of new alternative communication routes. Koyshibayev also noted that several big companies have shown their interest in the project. Chinese SPG is one of them. The company has said that it is going to open a representative office in Kazakhstan.

«We want to create a better logistical corridor between our countries. Our company has been doing its best to expand cooperation with local companies in Kazakhstan in the sphere of logistics and trading,» SPG General Manager Li Fengli said.

For example, Kazakhstan and China are interested in expanding the export of Kazakhstani wheat to Southeast Asia via SPG ports. Moreover, Deputy Head of KAIC Aydin Bayedilov says that Kazakshan is expecting «smart investments» from SPG.

«For local businesses, this is a great opportunity to enter the global market, first of all, China, Japan and South Korea. It is also crucial to avoid cargo staying idle for months and railway cars being semi-vacant,» Bayedilov said.

Shandong Port Group Co Ltd. is a state-owned enterprise established by the People’s Government of Shandong Province. Vital parts of the group are Qingdao Port, Rizhao Port, Yantai Port and Bohai Bay Port; it runs 21 port areas, 360 production berths and 320 container transportation routes. SPG operates in 12 business segments: shipping, trade, logistics, sci-tech, equipment manufacturing, overseas development, financial services, port construction,city-industry integration, cruise culture & tourism, vocational education and medical & health. In 2022, SPG’s total cargo exceeded 1.62 billion tons and its container volumes topped 37.29 million TEUs.

In 2022, the turnover between Kazakhstan and China reached $24.1 billion, a 34.1% increase over 2021. As of today, China accounts for 15.6% of Kazakhstani exports.

Last fall Kazakhstani cargo companies said that they had been struggling with bottlenecking at the Chinese border for two years. First, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, then due to the huge flow of cargo and worn-out infrastructure. This issue had been discussed by the two countries for a long time. In 2021, a special commission established by the government of Kazakhstan negotiated with Chinese authorities which agreed to give the green light to some prioritized goods headed toward China.

In the middle of March 2023, the State Revenue Committee of Kazakhstan announced that Kazakhstan-China border crossing points increased their capacity by 40%.