The European Union, China and the United States play the largest role in international trade, in terms of supplying products and as markets, and their trade relations largely determine the configuration of cargo flows in the international transport system.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) runs through China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and further through the Black Sea to Europe. The TITR is a multimodal route that involves two modes of transport: rail and sea.