Russian transport group FESCO said on October 22 that its FESCO China Direct Line (FCDL) moved 259,000 TEU between Chinese ports and Vladivostok in January–September 2026. The company reported a 31% increase from the same period in 2025. TEU is a capacity measure equivalent to the volume of a standard 20-foot container; it is not the count of physical containers.

Imports were the main source of growth. FESCO said import shipments on the route increased 72% over the nine-month period. It described automotive cargo, particularly vehicle kits, as a major part of the inbound container flow and said shipments of household appliances and furniture also grew. The release does not give tonnage, value or the share of total imports represented by these goods, so the reported growth should not be read as a measured increase in commodity weight.

FESCO said it adapted the service’s fleet mix and carrying capacity to respond to higher demand. It cited a series of typhoons and congestion at some Chinese ports among the operational conditions it had to manage. FCDL comprises four regular container lines linking Vladivostok Commercial Sea Port with ports in northern China, including Xingang, Dalian and Rizhao; central China, including Shanghai, Ningbo and Lianyungang; and southern China, including Yantian, Nansha and Shantou.

The company planned to increase the service’s aggregate weekly capacity to more than 7,000 TEU in November. This is a forward-looking capacity plan, not a completed November volume. FESCO also said its group-wide container fleet totals 200,000 TEU and that it manages more than 30 transport vessels; those figures describe the wider group, not the China service alone.

The route is part of Russia’s Far East import corridor, but the company announcement does not measure the value of broader trade flows or the severity of port congestion. It provides no export-direction volumes, tariff information, average freight price or capacity-utilization rate. The figures are company-reported operating statistics, not an independent national customs series.

An earlier FESCO release in January described an expansion of one China Direct Line branch: FCDL-1 added a call at Qinzhou in southern China, with service planned every two weeks. At that time, the company said three container ships with combined capacity above 5,000 TEU served that branch, alongside calls at Nansha, Yantian, Shantou and Xiamen. The October report discusses the broader FCDL system, comprising four regular lines, rather than only FCDL-1. The January account helps explain that route development continued during the year, but its ship count and capacity apply to that branch at that date and should not be combined with October’s system-wide weekly plan.

FESCO separately reported that Vladivostok Commercial Sea Port handled more than 805,000 TEU in 2025, retaining its leading position among Russian ports by container turnover according to the company. That figure is port-wide, covers all relevant container flows and refers to a full calendar year; it is not the same perimeter as the 259,000 TEU carried by the China Direct Line during nine months. The 2025 release also reported 113,000 imported passenger cars handled at the port’s vehicle terminal, but that is a count of vehicles and not a container-volume measure. These distinctions prevent company operating figures from being added or compared as though they describe the same service, unit or period.