North-South corridor freight surges 87 percent in January-April

Freight traffic along the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) jumped 87% in the first four months of 2026, Russian Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin said, with shipments to Iran leading the increase.

“Use of the International North-South Transport Corridor grew in January-April, with supplies from Russia to Iran rising more than 56%,” Nikitin said.

The minister highlighted that development of the eastern and southern corridors accelerated this spring against the backdrop of the geopolitical situation in the Middle East.

“Over the first four months of 2026 we are seeing export growth towards Iran of more than 56%. Overall, freight traffic along the North–South corridor showed an increase of 87%,” Nikitin said.

According to him, the strongest gains were recorded on the Trans-Caspian route via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, where shipments were up 98% compared with the same period in 2025.

The corridor cuts delivery times from the Baltic countries to South Asia by 15-20 days and is twice as fast as the route via the Suez Canal.

The minister added that freight traffic with China is also growing this year, while on the Western route through Azerbaijan, border crossing capacity has increased fivefold to up to 1,900 trucks per day, TASS reported.