BCP Monitor

This chapter, another new addition to this annual report, examines BCP performance, decomposed by road and rail transport, and further delineated by the direction of traffic (inbound or outbound). The most problematic BCPs were identified and are listed here.

Road BCPs

In 2023, the most time-consuming BCP in the outbound direction was Tsiteli Khidi, averaging 54.9 hr. It is a high-traffic BCP used for transporting goods between the Caucasus and Central Asia. Georgian and Turkish drivers route shipments here but require road permits to enter Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The long border-crossing time occurs for two reasons, the first being the throughput mismatch between Tsiteli Khidi and Krasnyi Most. Georgia Customs have adopted risk-based management and designed the layout, facilities and processes to accommodate a one-stop shop. Drivers spent 5–10 min in clearance, where shipping documents are submitted to the customs officer at eye level. Unfortunately, the throughput rate at the Azerbaijani side requires more time and cleared trucks on the Georgia side cannot be released until the Azerbaijani side clear the trucks inside Krasyni Most. The second issue is the time taken to apply and obtain the road permits to enter Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The shortage of road permits, caused by the surge in transit traffic after the Ukraine War began in February 2022, results in a longer waiting time to obtain the permits. Thus, drivers have to wait on the Tsiteli Khidi side until they receive the permit.

Khorgos was the second most time-consuming BCP, averaging 51.4 hr. This is a busy land BCP with dense freight traffic serving bilateral goods movement between PRC and Kazakhstan, as well as transit traffic for Chinese exports to Central Asia. Chinese trucks are generally prohibited to operate in Central Asia, forcing the trucks to unload the goods in temporary warehouses in Khorgos and wait for the Kazakhstan trucks to collect the goods on the Chinese side. The waiting time is the main reason for the delays.

Chaman surfaced as the third most time-consuming BCP, with 48.3 hr. Chaman and Torkham are the two main BCPs that serve the Afghan Transit Trade, where goods move from Karachi to these BCPs before terminating in Kabul or Kandahar. Unlike Tsiteli Khidi and Khorgos, the main delay at Chaman (and Torkham) was due to customs inspection. Generally, there are high incidences of full physical examination and cumbersome paperwork. ADB has financed a modernization initiative under Regional Improvement in Border Services (RIBS) at Chaman, and CPMM would monitor to see if there is significant improvement once the modernization is completed.

The remaining BCPs too continue to be time-consuming owing to long waiting time, customs controls, or loading and unloading delays. Sarpi-Sarp and Krasnyi Most are affected by the traffic diverted owing to the Ukraine War. Afghanistan’s BCPs, Shirkhan Bandar and Torghondi, are generally time-consuming due to weak institutional capacity and under-funded infrastructure.

Dostyk was the most time-consuming BCP for inbound direction, with 22.2 hr. Nur Zholy was ranked third, with 16.5 hr. Both of them are in Kazakhstan, opposite PRC, and serve as important nodes for bilateral and transit trade. Long queues were the prime reason for the delays. There is a mismatch in throughput as the infrastructure and materials handling equipment are more limited here than in the Chinese BCPs.

With 19 hr on average to complete border-crossing, Torkham in Afghanistan was placed second. A perennially time-consuming BCP, it is a beneficiary under ADB Regional Improvement in Border Services (RIBS). Although the plan is to expand Torkham to six lanes on the Pakistan side, the Afghanistan side remains limited to one lane, which signals a major concern as the throughput mismatch could lead to sub-optimal performance.

Table 4.1: The Most Time-Consuming Road BCPs, Outbound (hours)

Table 4.2: The Most Time-Consuming Road BCPs, Inbound (hours)

The BCPs located in Afghanistan, Mongolia and Tajikistan require investment to modernize their infrastructure and expand capacity. Finally, the average durations at Farap, Krasyni Most and Dautota have reduced from past levels.

In 2023, the top three costliest BCPs in the outbound direction were Alashankou, Khorgos, and Takeshikent, all PRC BCPs. The dense traffic through Alashankou and Khorgos is a factor that increased border fees. For Takeshikent BCP, which handles many coal shipments from Mongolia, the costs originated from loading and unloading fees. Costs increased for Shirkhan Bandar and Torghondi (both in Afghanistan) owing to the need to perform transloading operations because of Afghan trucks being prohibited from crossing the border. At Peshawar, customs controls fee was the main cost driver, while at Tsiteli Khidi, the main expense was the payment for road permits and road tolls.

The costliest BCPs for inbound traffic tend to be the adjacent nodes to the costly BCPs identified for the outbound direction. Dostyk is opposite Alashankou, and Nur Zholy is opposite Khorgos. Customs controls fee was the main cost driver. Irkeshtam is a busy BCP in Kyrgyz Republic serving the transit traffic of Chinese exports to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Transit fee per truck through Irkeshtam was the highest in 2023.

Table 4.3: The Costliest Road BCPs, Outbound ($)

Table 4.4: The Costliest Road BCPs, Inbound ($)

Operations at Yarant, Panjo Poyon, Fotehobod and Torkham were costly due to the customs control fee. Kuryk, Sarpi and Tsiteli Khidi serve the Middle Corridor and the surge in transit traffic pushed up bordercrossing expenses. The fees at Kuryk covered only the land operations and did not include sea-related expenses (e.g., fare for crossing the Caspian Sea).

Rail BCPs

Alashankou and Khorgos, two high-traffic BCP that serve rail freight traffic, topped the list of the most time-consuming BCPs in 2023. However, in terms of the magnitude of the time taken, the adjacent inbound BCPs showed greater delays. While the outbound stations in PRC showed the average duration at 12.5 hr–17.5 hr, the inbound stations in Kazakhstan showed 74.3 hr–76.9 hr. The differences in rail gauge standards led to the need for changing gauge operations at the receiving stations, which caused the longer timings at the Kazakhstan BCPs.

Table 4.5: The Most Time-Consuming Rail BCPs, Outbound (hours)

Table 4.6: The Most Time-Consuming Rail BCPs, Inbound (hours)

Comparing the average border-crossing cost between road and rail transport, the former showed a higher level, substantiating the common knowledge that rail transport in theory should be cheaper than road transport. For outbound traffic, Torghondi BCP was the most expensive at $225, followed by Aktau ($220), Sarygash ($125), and Naushki ($55).

The inbound stations generally showed a higher cost, driven by the need to complete change gauge operations. Not surprisingly, Dostyk and Altynkol emerged as the most expensive BCPs, at $378 and $285 respectively.