Advantages of bulk shipping
The first train on the Song Than - Dong Dang agricultural import-export transport route has just departed from Song Than station (Binh Duong province).
About 900 tons of goods with 21 40-foot refrigerated container wagons carrying fresh fruits, seafood... were transported to Yen Vien station before being transferred to a 1,435mm gauge train to Dong Dang station (Lang Son) and on to China.
Previously, at Kep station, the railway cooperated with Bac Giang province to put into operation trains transporting fresh lychees for export to China. These lychee batches went through customs procedures right at Kep station and were transported by self-powered refrigerated containers on 1,435mm-gauge wagons directly to China.
Loading refrigerated containers to transport fresh lychees for export onto international transit ships to China.
As one of the first enterprises to export fresh lychees by international freight train, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phong, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Bang Thuy Agricultural Cooperative (Luc Ngan district, Bac Giang province) excitedly said: "This year, there is an additional form of export by rail, which is convenient for customs clearance procedures, can carry more so it can be consumed faster, fresh lychees when reaching customers are guaranteed to be fresh and delicious".
Mr. Nguyen The Thi, Vice Chairman of Luc Ngan District People's Committee, said that exporting lychees by rail can bring this product deep into the vast inland of China such as Shanghai, Beijing, and from there to other countries. Moreover, during the main season, it will reduce pressure on customs and border agencies on roads through border gates that are often congested.
A business specializing in import-export logistics services said that rail transport, with its advantages of carrying a lot, stable prices, and not depending on border trade policies like road transport, is the optimal transportation solution for agricultural products, especially fresh fruits when in season.
On the other hand, China - a major importer of Vietnamese fruits and agricultural products is currently tightening regulations on importing this type of product, with high requirements for official imports. Meanwhile, transporting fresh agricultural products "squeezes" a lot of time, especially fresh fruits.
"More and more localities and businesses are interested in learning about transporting agricultural products for export by rail. It is important that the railway has the optimal transportation solution in terms of time and cost," said the business.
Transportation costs are less than half of road transport.
Speaking with Giao thong Newspaper, a representative of the Railway Transport and Trade Joint Stock Company (Ratraco) said that to transport dry agricultural products for export such as dry tea and cassava starch, the railway has many types of vehicles and wagons to meet customers' needs such as regular containers, closed-top GG cars, etc.
However, the current direction of the railway and also the demand of customers is to transport fresh agricultural products for import and export because it brings better revenue. For example, the price of transporting a container of dry goods on the North - South route is only about 30-35 million VND/round trip, but the price of transporting a container of fresh fruit can be 35 million VND/one way.
Railways organize many solutions to transport agricultural products to meet import and export needs (Photo: North-South container train).
Therefore, to attract customers to the railway, the railway must develop solutions for transporting refrigerated containers, especially during the fresh fruit export season. At that time, at the Lang Son road border gate, normally only about 700 vehicles/day are allowed to clear customs, at peak times it can reach 1,200-1,400 vehicles/day even though the authorities have worked overtime and opened the border gate extra hours. Meanwhile, the demand is even up to 2,000 vehicles.
Regarding cost, during low season, a container traveling by road from the South costs around 60 million VND, and during peak season it can cost up to 100-120 million VND. Meanwhile, traveling by rail, the cost is only over 40 million VND, including the cost of lifting, lowering, and short-distance transportation between the two ends. Therefore, if the railway has the means and a good transportation organization solution, it will meet the demand at this time.
In recent times, the railway has rented Chinese standard self-powered refrigerated containers to ensure the quality of goods, and at the same time, they can be exported deep into China as well as to third countries. Goods can be transported on a train of about 20 containers, equivalent to 20 container tractors from the South to the North, to the border. From here, the goods can be unloaded from the train, continue by road through the border gate, or go directly through the railway station border gate to China.
A representative of Hanoi Railway Transport Joint Stock Company said that in order to implement the Song Than - Dong Dang refrigerated container transport route for agricultural products and food imports and exports, the company had to develop its own transportation process.
Because of the transportation by refrigerated container with electricity, the unit must prepare the power line for the container, and pull the postal wagon carrying the generator in the train. During the operation, there must be electrical technicians and refrigeration technicians to handle any electrical problems promptly, the container can maintain power, and the quality of the goods must be ensured. At the same time, it is necessary to issue procedures for connecting the electrical system and procedures for resolving cargo problems.
"With this solution, we have gained the trust of Chinese customers. They are the ones who prepare a stable source of goods, collect goods from fruit warehouse owners in the South to Song Than station, and when the train schedule comes, there will be enough goods to transport. In the opposite direction, the train transports Chinese fruits such as fresh grapes and fresh garlic from Lao Cai to Song Than," said the representative.
Genuine goods, high quality
Ratraco representative said that a lot of Vietnamese agricultural products are exported to China by sea. When arriving in China, they will go to wholesale markets, but they are concentrated in ports along the coast from Xiamen to Shanghai. However, for fresh fruits, sea transport is not the first choice because the shipping time by sea is long while the time for exporting fresh fruits from Vietnam is short, only about 25-27 days maximum from harvest to shelf sale.
According to railway transport enterprises, official export of agricultural products will bring higher value to goods, and can go deep into China or to third countries (Photo: International transit train departs Dong Dang station for China).
When choosing to transport by sea, Chinese businesses must also accept that if the fruit is on time, they will sell it fresh, but if it is past its expiration date, they will switch to other forms of processing such as drying or making juice...
Therefore, rail transport is a time-efficient solution. However, fresh agricultural products and fruits transported by rail must be official and must meet strict requirements from growing area codes to packaging specifications.
For example, with fresh lychees, the Chinese side requires that the lychee bunches have stems that are only 10cm long, and must not have leaves; the ties must be plastic ties, not rattan, to avoid the possibility of bacteria. Therefore, the railway has built a process, steps, customs requirements, Chinese requirements, packaging requirements... to send to lychee exporting enterprises.
"If the goods are not up to standard, the authorities may ask to move them to a corner, where they can filter and screen them to ensure they meet the requirements for import. But if they are up to standard by rail, they will be asked to "turn back" to Vietnam.
Therefore, goods sent by rail are only suitable for businesses that export standard goods, make "real" goods and find higher-end supply markets because then the cost of goods will be higher than by road, and the profits will also be better," said a representative of Ratraco.
A representative of Hanoi Railway Transport Joint Stock Company said that agricultural products transported by refrigerated container ships on the Song Than - Dong Dang route are official, high-quality goods, usually only sold at supermarkets. For example, a container of durian has a value of up to 4 billion VND.
"High value goods, long distance transportation costs are good. Railways are for transportation, import-export businesses also aim for these products to bring high efficiency," said the representative.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/nong-san-quay-xe-di-duong-sat-vi-gia-re-on-dinh-192230917151614372.htm
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