Stonebridge launches a regular rail service from China: goods in Belgrade in 20 days
Stonebridge Logistics, the Konstantin group's freight forwarder, has been running a regular container rail service from China since March. Trains depart from Chengdu, one of the main hubs of China's rail exports, and reach the group's warehouse outside Belgrade via the Budapest terminal.
Sea freight from Shanghai to Belgrade — via Piraeus or the North European ports — takes 30 to 40 days depending on the season. The rail route cuts that to around 20 days, with a more predictable schedule: departures every other Wednesday, with bookings closing the Friday before.
The service primarily carries the group's own cargo — Konstantin Trade's seasonal range can now be ordered three weeks later, with fresher demand data — but it is open to third parties as well. Interest is already there: the first three departures also carried shipments for two Belgrade importers outside the group.
“Rail won't replace the ship — for a full container of cookware, sea freight still wins on cost. But when the goods are seasonal, or a whole collection is running late, twenty days instead of forty changes everything,” says Marko Ilić, the group's chief operating officer.
Shipments clear customs on arrival in Belgrade, with Stonebridge preparing the full documentation for clients — from loading in China to unloading at the warehouse.