Kazakh freight is reaching more customers all around the world, with rail playing a key role in logistics. Earlier, shipments from Kazakhstan began to Texas and Morocco, and now grain is making its way to Vietnam.
Kazakh state-owned company “Food Corporation” has begun shipping wheat to Vietnam. The first shipment consisted of 15,000 tonnes of grain. It is not the first-ever instance of Kazakh grain transportation to the South East Asian country. The last such shipment took place in 2017.
A container train will take the wheat from Kazakh grain producers through the Dostyk-Alashankou border crossing. From there, it will make its way to the Lianyungang seaport in China. The last leg to Vietnamese Hai Pong will take place via sea.
The new export route to Vietnam comes after Kazakh Railways (KTZ) started shipments to Houston, Texas and Morocco. The company has evidently set its sights on more distant destinations. In the case of the route to Texas, KTZ covered the full range of services, including the first mile and insurance.
Geographic expansion
Against that background, a renewal of Kazakh shipments to Vietnam through China is perhaps not entirely surprising. Rail freight between the two countries has been growing in recent years.
“Over the past five years, the national operator has annually supplied about 200 thousand tonnes of grain to China in order to consolidate its position in the priority market for Kazakhstan. This year, we plan to increase export volumes by expanding the geography of supplies. 60 thousand tonnes of food wheat have already been shipped to the Kingdom of Morocco. As for Southeast Asia, this market has high potential and is promising for Kazakhstani agricultural producers”, a representative of the Food Corporation explained.
Meanwhile, KTZ has come out with some new data on cross-border rail freight with China. In the first four months of 2025, the volume of rail transportation between
Kazakhstan and China increased by 13% compared to the same period in 2024, reaching 11,4 million tonnes.
The majority, 6,2 million tonnes, passed through the Dostyk border crossing (an increase of 5%). The remaining 5,2 million tonnes made its way through Altynkol, which is 24% more than in 2024.
More data from KTZ
Over the past five years, the volume of freight transported between Kazakhstan and China has increased by 48%, reaching 32 million tonnes. Since 2020, exports have amounted to 13,7 million tonnes (an increase of 25%), while grain exports have more than doubled — from 700 thousand tonnes to 1,8 million tonnes.
In 2024 alone, over 3,3 million tonnes of grain was exported, including 1,8 million tonnes of grain and 1,5 million tonnes of processed products:
- 600 thousand tonnes of flour and other milled products (+30% compared to 2023)
- 900 thousand tonnes of compound feed (a fivefold increase compared to 2023)