On the night of 11-12 September, Poland closed all border crossings with Belarus due to military exercises and security threats. This decision instantly shut down the key ‘artery’ between China and the EU, which handles hundreds of thousands of TEUs annually. Hundreds of trucks and thousands of containers were trapped, and road transport rates skyrocketed.

 At the same time, neighbouring countries (Latvia, Lithuania) introduced tighter controls, leading to queues of hundreds of vehicles and further increases in delivery costs. As a result, many customers are now looking for a strategic alternative rather than a temporary fix.

TMTM (Trans-Caspian / Middle Corridor) as an alternative
The route through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey is increasingly being considered as the ‘new Silk Road’.
   In 2024, Middle Corridor transport volumes grew by 62% and exceeded 4.5 million tonnes, with a forecast of over 5.2 million tonnes for 2025.
   Regular China-EU trains have been running through this corridor since September 2025.
   The route has been developed in multimodal schemes (40-50 days of transit), using the ports of Poti, Baku, Aktau, as well as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway junction.
Even if the Polish border opens in the coming weeks, queues of 400–500 vehicles and the risk of repeated blockages are forcing customers to reconsider their strategy.

Why is now the time to take a closer look at TMTM?
  Route stability: it is less dependent on local force majeure events and restrictions in certain areas, as it is based on multilateral cooperation between several countries and transport systems.
  Predictability: clear transit rules and load distribution between several transport links reduce the risk of sudden stops.
  Flexibility: the multimodal structure of the route allows for quick reorganisation of the chain in case of changing conditions.

The role of Formag Forwarding
We have offices in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Poland and 10 other countries.
Formag Forwarding is the only freight forwarder with its own offices along the entire TMTM route. This means that we can:
- resolve any issues or delays directly on site,
- respond quickly to force majeure events,
- ensure continuity and transparency of delivery.

As a result, our customers receive not only multimodal transportation, but also complete control of the supply chain from door to door.

Formag Forwarding is all about speed, flexibility, and reliability when the usual logistics routes become a bottleneck.

 If you are planning to diversify your routes and are considering TMTM, please contact our team. We will help you calculate the transit time and cost for your cargo today.