Kazakhstan reports sharp increase in oil exports to China by railway

Kazakhstan’s oil exports to China by railways have risen by 2.8 times / Collage by Kursiv.media, photo editor: Arthur Aleskerov

Over the period from January to May 2024, Kazakhstan Railways exported 125,000 tons of oil to China compared to 45,000 tons over the same period last year (a 2.8-time increase), the company said.

«There was a positive dynamic in cargo shipping between Kazakhstan and China over the period from January to May 2024. The volume of cargo shipping by railway transport has risen by 12.4% compared to the same period last year and reached 12.8 million tons. Kazakhstani exports to China rose by 1 million tons, reaching 5.7 million tons,» the company said in a statement.

In particular, from January to May, oil exports rose by 90,000 tons (to 125,000 tons) compared to the same period in 2023; metal ore exports rose by 37,000 tons (to 3.3 million tons); coal by 79,000 (to 82,500 tons); ferrous metals by 296,000 tons (to 447,000 tons) and chemicals by 21,000 tons (to 43,000 tons).

Furthermore, flour exports have also risen by 50% to 282,000 tons, non-ferrous metals to 279,000 tons and vegetable oil by 28% to 81,300 tons.

Kazakhstan and China are partners within the Belt and Road Initiative as the country ensures transit of railway cars filled with cars, textiles, construction materials, vegetable oils, metal ores, chemicals and medical equipment. Cargo is usually processed at two railway border closings – Dostyk-Alashankou and Altynkol-Khorgos – with a total capacity of 28 million tons of cargo per year.

Once the third railway crossing Bakhty-Chuguchak is commissioned, the amount of cargo between China and Kazakhstan will reach 48 million tons per year. In order to boost Kazakhstan’s transit potential KTZ will build 1,300 kilometers of new railways, including the second railway line between Dostyk and Moiynty which is expected to increase its capacity fivefold.

In April, KazTransOil transferred 834,800 tons of Russian oil to China, which is 12,800 tons more than the same period last year. In January 2024, the pipeline company transported to China 855,600 tons of oil, followed by 816,200 tons in February and 835,600 tons in March.

In 2023, the volume of Russian oil transit via Kazakhstan to China reached 9,989,000 tons. From 2014 to 2023, KazTransOil supplied 91 million tons of Russian oil to China, as the three sides agreed to transport up to 10 million tons of Russian oil to China per year.

According to the State Revenue Committee under the Ministry of Finance, from January to April 2024, Kazakhstan itself exported just 1.5 million tons of oil (for $1 billion) to China. For comparison, over the same period, the country exported 10 million tons of oil for $5.9 billion to Italy and 2 million tons for $1.2 billion to France. Several years ago, long before Russia started to boost its oil exports to China via Kazakhstan, China received about the same volume of oil as Italy.