(Yicai) Sept. 24 — Poland will reopen its border ports with Belarus tomorrow morning, allowing China-made goods stranded en route to the European Union to begin moving again, several Polish logistics firms and freight forwarders confirmed to Yicai.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the decision yesterday, as reported by CCTV News, while noting that the government reserves the right to close the border again if necessary.
The ports have been closed since Sept. 12 after Poland reacted to joint military drills between Russia and Belarus near its border, followed by a drone incursion. The closure halted freight traffic on the key China-Europe land corridor.
The China-Europe Railway Express, the main land freight link between China and Europe, runs through Russia and Brest in Belarus, reaching the Polish hub of Malaszewicze before connecting to more than 220 cities in 26 European countries.
Since the launch of the railway express in 2014, Malaszewicze has become China’s primary gateway to the European Union, handling about 85 percent to 90 percent of all China-Europe freight trains, according to the European Rail Freight Association.
Logistics Impact and Disputed Figures
The scale of disruption remains contested. On Sept. 22, logistics firm New Silk Road Intermodal Sichuan said via its Cargo Talk WeChat account that more than 130 China-Europe freight trains were stranded in Brest over the past week.
However, Yang Jie, general manager of Eurasian Railway International Freight Forwarding, told Yicai that reports by self-media claiming “300 trains are stranded with goods worth EUR25 billion (USD29.5 billion)” were overstated. He said such figures misrepresent both the number of trains and the value of goods.
“Given the goods mix, clients of Chinese cross-border e-commerce merchants are likely the most affected,” Yang added.
Yang noted that industry insiders never expected Poland to keep the border closed indefinitely. The ports are critical not only for China-Europe freight trains but also for broader trade between Belarus and Europe, he explained.
“Most goods between Belarus and Europe move by road, not rail, so trucks are essential to maintain cross-border trade,” he said.
Limited Alternatives and Expected Delays
Although alternative routes exist — such as the Middle Corridor via the Caspian Sea or the Northern Sea Route through Saint Petersburg — Yang said they remain limited in scale and reliability.
“People are cautious about alternatives,” he said, adding that only five to six trains per week use the Saint Petersburg sea-rail route. Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russian ships are banned from docking at European ports, limiting capacity to smaller vessels.
“All the alternative routes have significant shortcomings,” Yang said. A key challenge is the imbalance of inbound and outbound cargo, which causes shortages of shuttle vehicles, extended delivery times, congestion, and increased costs.
He added that no alternative route currently exists that could absorb the freight volume of Malaszewicze in the short term. With the reopening of Malaszewicze, Yang expects short-term congestion that should ease once the backlog clears.
New Silk Road Intermodal estimated it will take about a week to restore normal transit capacity at the ports and along the route.
Editor: Emmi Laine