Azerbaijan: transit to exceed 16 million tonnes in 2026, including 5.5 million tonnes via the Middle Corridor

Total transit cargo through Azerbaijan will exceed 16 million tonnes in 2026, including 5.5 million tonnes via the Middle Corridor (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route). This was announced at the German-Azerbaijani conference in Baku by Fariz Aliyev, head of the Transport Policy Department at Azerbaijan's Ministry of Digital Development and Transport.

According to him, the annual capacity of the Baku – Tbilisi – Kars railway is 5 million tonnes, and the Port of Baku handles 15 million tonnes and 160,000 TEU. After the port expansion, these figures are expected to reach 25 million tonnes and 500,000 TEU by 2030. About 600 regular container block trains have arrived from China since the start of the year. The main part of the Zangezur Corridor in Azerbaijan is nearly complete and is expected to open next year, and Türkiye is building the Kars – Iğdır – Julfa railway, due for completion in 2030. Together these projects will add 15 million tonnes of capacity to the Middle Corridor.

Azerbaijan is also expanding ASCO, the largest fleet on the Caspian: container ships, superferries and Ro-Ro vessels have been ordered. For project cargo from China and Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye, this means more capacity on the Caspian leg and in the ports where oversized equipment is transshipped.

Source: Trend, 6 October 2026.