The past couple of weeks brought two ‘firsts’ for the Middle Corridor, highlighting its increasing importance for Eurasian connectivity. Both initiatives concern Kazakhstan, which is asserting itself as a major player along the route for both westbound and eastbound traffic with Europe.
Both developments regard bulk cargo, more specifically fertilizer and jet fuel. Last week, state-owned operator KTZ organized the first multimodal transportation of mineral fertilizers from Ekibastuz, northeastern Kazakhstan, to the UK via the Middle Corridor. In the opposite direction, jet fuel is now flowing along the Middle Corridor from Europe to Kazakhstan after a stop of eight years.
Kazakhstan-UK
For the Kazakhstan-UK axis, the fertilizer will be moved by rail across Kazakhstan, over the Caspian Sea, then through Azerbaijan and Georgia. From the Georgian ports of Poti and Batumi, it will be transported by sea to Felixstowe.
“The new route has expanded opportunities for domestic enterprises to supply products to the UK market. The use of the TITR ensures competitive delivery times, diversification of transport routes and increased resilience of international supply chains,” the company said, according to Azerbaijani media Trend.
Jet fuel is back
Jet fuel transshipment at the Batumi Oil Terminal from Europe to Kazakhstan was resumed after an eight year pause, parent company KazTransOil said in a statement. “The first shipment, comprising 10,000 tonnes of JET A-1, was delivered to Batumi Oil Terminal by sea across the Black Sea,” the statement added. “The cargo is currently stored at the terminal pending the arrival of rail tank cars for onward transportation to the Republic of Kazakhstan”. KazTransOil were contacted but no answer was provided.
An important change
This shipment underlines two important changes. One is the role of Batumi as a key hub for the transportation of aviation fuel from Europe to central Asia, when usually commodities head the other way. The second is the possibility for more premium cargoes into Central Asia.
“The resumption of JET A-1 transshipment expands the logistics capabilities of Batumi Oil Terminal, promotes freight transportation along the Middle Corridor, enhances the resilience of international supply chains and strengthens the transit potential of the KazTransOil Group,” their statement said.
Container traffic increases too
Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Trade and Integration Aset Nusupov recently underlined how the corridor has become one of the country’s main strategic assets. “The figures speak for themselves. Over three years, from 2022 to 2025, the volume of transportation along the route increased more than fivefold. By the end of 2025, total cargo traffic reached 4.5–4.7 million tonnes, of which container transportation accounted for 76,900 TEUs (36% more than a year earlier),” he said.
He noted that in the first quarter of 2026, 125 container trains passed along the route, representing a 34.4% increase compared to the same period last year. Over the same period, 85 trains operated on the Xi’an – Alat Port route, twice as many as a year earlier. Moreover, delivery times along the route have nearly halved, decreasing from 28–32 days to 11–13 days.