Azerbaijan's transit cargo hits five-year high of 9.1m tonnes in seven months

Transit freight through Azerbaijan exceeded 9.1 million tonnes in January to July 2026, the highest level for the period in five years and 11.6 per cent more than a year earlier, the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport said on 10 August.

Transit on the East-West corridor, the route that links China and Central Asia with Georgia, Türkiye and Europe, rose 16.5 per cent, and transit on the North-South corridor between Russia and Iran rose 14.3 per cent, according to the ministry. Trend reported the same figures the same day.

The numbers back the government's case that Azerbaijan is becoming a hub for trade between Asia and Europe. The ministry credits reforms, digital customs tools and new infrastructure, and also "changes in global trade routes". Azernews reported in July that the war involving Iran had pushed some cargo off the Hormuz route and onto the corridor, with weekly traffic on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway up 35 per cent in one week of March.

The Caspian crossing

The Port of Alat, south of Baku, handled 72,370 TEU of containers in January to July, up 20 per cent, while its dry cargo grew 82 per cent to 1.4 million tonnes, the ministry said. The figures extend the rise in container traffic at the port reported for the first half of the year.

The ministry said the port's container capacity had been raised from 100,000 to 150,000 TEU, a seventh berth and a 125-tonne crane had been brought into use, and annual cargo capacity now stood at 15 million tonnes. An expansion project under way is meant to lift these to 25 million tonnes and 500,000 TEU. In 2025 the port handled more than 8.2 million tonnes of cargo and 107,000 TEU.

Ships are the other constraint. Baku Shipyard is building four cargo vessels under its first international commercial order, and on 16 September 2025 it signed a contract with AD Ports Group for two container ships of 780 TEU each for the Caspian, according to the ministry.

Trains and transit times

Azerbaijan Railways said that in 2025 container shipments through the country rose 19 per cent to 135,000 TEU, that transit containers rose 20 per cent to 66,300 TEU, and that the number of container block trains on the China to Europe route through the corridor had passed 390, Trend reported on 30 December 2025.

The ministry put the average journey time on the China to Europe route at 12 days, against 38 to 53 days several years ago, and said the annual capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway had been raised to five million tonnes. It also pointed to its Single Window digital logistics platform and to electronic consignment notes being introduced in phases with international partners.

For readers new to the route, our explainer sets out how the Middle Corridor works, from Chinese railheads to the Caspian ferries and the Georgian ports.

What the statement does not say

The ministry gave growth rates for the two corridors but not their tonnages, and it did not say how the 9.1 million tonnes divided between rail, road, sea and pipeline, or by cargo type. It gave no date for the Alat expansion that would take the port to 25 million tonnes and 500,000 TEU.

Further reading

• Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan to launch joint Caspian fleet for Middle Corridor cargo
• The Middle Corridor Is the Caucasus's Real Growth Story, and It's Still Under-Built

Sources

• Record Transit Freight Volumes: Highest Level in Five Years, Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan, 10 August 2026
• Azerbaijan records five-year high in transit freight transport, Trend, 10 August 2026
• Azerbaijan unleashes potential with record container and transit shipments, Trend, 30 December 2025
• Azerbaijan's transit boom entering its industrial phase, Azernews, 9 July 2026