MANP Terminal near Moscow, part of the GCS Group, has begun handling a new block train service bringing chemicals and chemical products from Urumqi in north-west China.

The trains, operated by Transcontainer, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, carry 41 40-foot containers of products for plastics production. The route transits through Kazakhstan and takes eight days.

MANP Terminal has its own customs station located on the site which ensures a streamlined customs clearance process.

“Customers find this a real advantage because it avoids the time and costs of moving the cargo to another location for customs inspection,” said Maxim Tyomkin, manager of MANP Terminal.

The terminal has a fully equipped container yard, bonded storage, and warehouses for container stripping if required.  It also has a trucking fleet for on-carriage to end customers.

“We are very pleased that MANP has been chosen to handle this new service,” said Tyomkin. “It is currently operating a monthly frequency but there is a likelihood that this will increase as demand for the plastics product rises in this region.”

GCS, one of the top ten container transport companies in Russia and the CIS, has invested heavily in the MANP terminal, 28 miles southeast of Moscow, since it acquired the facility in 2006.

The terminal offers regular intermodal services to a range of destinations in inland Russia, including the most remote provinces and handles a weekly fixed day intermodal service from the port of Vostochniy in the Russian Pacific operated by sister company Ruscon. It also serves western Russian gateways of St.Petersburg and Novorossiysk.