This short-term outlook edition coincides with the unfolding of the Covid-19 crisis, making the exercise exceptionally challenging. Market forecasts are based on market intelligence available at the beginning of April 2020 and reflect the Covid-19 impact to the extent possible, with all the caveats and limitations in view of the rapidly evolving situation. In addition, for the first time market outlooks are presented for EU-27, and assume a frictionless trade between the EU and the UK in 2020.

In the first half of 2021, 336,598 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) were transported along the Eurasian railway transit route in the China—Europe—China direction, which is 50% more than in the first half of 2020.