When you hear on the news aboutThe BRICS foreign economic activity, about a trade turnover of more than 600 billion dollars, draws beautiful pictures in my head. Huge ships, high-speed trains, everything moves like clockwork. But it's worth digging a little deeper, and this perfect picture crumbles. Because logistics is not about numbers in reports. It's about physically dragging a container from point A to point B across three borders and two continents. And that's where the fun begins.
What keeps everything going. Or what they're carrying
First of all, what is BRICS domestic transportation? In fact, this is a giant exchange. China makes everything from electronics to tractors. And he needs raw materials. Lots of raw materials. Russia, Iran and Arab countries provide fuel for it. Brazil — soybeans and iron ore. South Africa — platinum and gold. India — pharmaceuticals. It's all about the case.
This cycle forces us to build ambitious BRICS routes. Theoretically, they should connect everyone and everything. But in practice, let's figure it out.
Big plans on paper
There are two projects that everyone is talking about.
The first is the North-South corridor, or INSTC. It's a beautiful idea: to connect Russia, Iran and India, not through the Suez Canal. Time savings of up to 40%. In terms of money, it's also decent, up to 2,500 dollars for every 15 tons of cargo. And it really works, the cargo flow is growing.
The second is China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative. This is generally an attempt to spread its transport network all over the world. This is also evident in the BRICS countries: investments are being made in Egyptian ports and industrial zones in South Africa. The goal is clear: to ensure uninterrupted transportation of goods and export of resources between the BRICS countries.
Plus, of course, the sea. For Brazil and South Africa, this is generally the only way to Asia. It will take 30-40 days, and your shipment of soybeans will sail to China. And the railways. The Transsib, for example. A giant highway that connects us with China. There are also plans for bridges to shorten the journey by thousands of kilometers.
It all sounds powerful. It's just a ready-made infrastructure for a new global economy. But this is only on paper.
And now — reality
Reality is always more prosaic. All this beautiful logistics in BRICS runs into several very simple but difficult to solve problems.
- There is a road, but it doesn't seem to be there.
It's about infrastructure. This is the same North-South corridor. Everyone is reporting an increase in traffic. But in Iran, on a key section, a piece of the Chabahar–Zahedan railway is simply not completed. Physically. And the containers are traveling on highways. All the savings and speed on this site are dying. The good news is that the Iranian Ministry of Transport announces that the construction of the road will be completed by the end of March 2026. - Customs.
Imagine: your cargo is traveling overland from Russia to India. It passes through several countries. And each has its own rules. Their duties. Your own ideas about how the invoice should look like. There is no unified system. Some require one certificate, some require another. It's not just inconvenient. These are constant delays and risks. It's not for nothing that even at the government level they say that without a unified tariff policy, this whole corridor thing will remain a half-measure. - The technical side.
The most obvious example is the different width of the railway track. Here and in the CIS — 1520 mm. In China, it is 1,435 mm. What does it mean? At the border, wagons need to transfer containers from one platform to another. This is time, this is money, this is the work of cranes. It seems like a small thing, but on the scale of thousands of containers, this translates into serious costs and logistical difficulties.
So what's the conclusion?
And the conclusion is simple. The entire transportation system within BRICS is now a huge construction site, and this advantage covers all the disadvantages. Something is already working, and it's working well. On the other hand, a lot of things are just plans and projects so far.
Successful logistics in BRICS today is not about choosing the most obvious route. It's about knowing all these bottlenecks, about being able to work around problems, about having reliable partners in each country who can solve the issue on the spot. It's the art of working in an environment where the rules can change at any moment.
