Many apple growers in Poland suffered big losses last season on the back of higher production and the Russian export ban. This has brought about a push to find other markets, and Polish grower's group, Appolonia, is looking to Asia. The company has been trading with Vietnam since the market opened to Poland last year. The next stop is China and Jakub Krawczyk, from Appolonia, said that it is a very exciting time with direct rail connections from Lodz do Chengdu and Warsaw to Suzhou, China.
According to Forbes.com, key improvements in route options, performance, and customs protocols, has set trans-continental rail transport for a renaissance. If the current trend continues, before long nearly every province in China is likely to have at least one Europe-bound train.
The first trains from Europe to China started back in 2008 from Hamburg, Germany to Xiangtan, China, but this first service was considered too slow by many to gain market appeal. The trains would often only depart once full, sometimes causing delays of up to a day. According to Konrad Godlewski from DHL, "The real change happened in 2013 with the Chengdu-Lodz train that opened. It was like a breakthrough. They published their departure time and had a direct line. That’s how we convinced the customers and the markets.”
Now, with these new standards, most China-Europe direct trains are now making the journey in under two weeks each way.
Steve Huang from CEO of East Asian operations for DHL admits that there are limits to what the trans-continental rail lines can achieve, “In terms of price rail can never compete with ocean,” he said. “In terms of transit time rail will never catch up with air freight. So it’s an option in between, in terms of transit time and transportation cost.”
