UPS to open Shanghai cargo hub in November
United Parcel Service Inc. in November plans to touch down on a new 1 million-square-foot air cargo hub in Shanghai. It will be the first U.S. cargo carrier to open a hub in the burgeoning China market.
UPS remained tight-lipped on the cost of the facility at Pudong International Airport, but said it has invested about USD 600 million in China in the past five years.
The new hub, plans for which were announced last spring, is expected to employ more than 1,000 by 2010 and serve cities in China as well as the United States, Europe and other parts of Asia.
UPS now operates from leased space at the Shanghai airport, which it shares with other freight carriers. The hub, which will include office and warehouse space, will give UPS greater control over operations — allowing the carrier to employ its own workers and schedule flights as needed.
While UPS may be the first U.S. carrier to open an air hub in China, it won’t be the only one for long.
FedEx Corp. is building an air hub in Guangzhou, China, scheduled to be completed by December.
UPS declined to disclose how much of its revenue comes from China, but said its export volume from the country was up more than 25 percent in the first nine months of 2007 compared with the prior year.
UPS, which became the first wholly owned foreign express carrier in China, serves more than 330 Chinese cities representing 85 percent of the country’s international trade activity.
The company has grown its China workforce to more than 4,500 employees while developing logistics infrastructure that includes more than 60 distribution centers.
United Parcel Service Inc. in November plans to touch down on a new 1 million-square-foot air cargo hub in Shanghai. It will be the first U.S. cargo carrier to open a hub in the burgeoning China market.
Atlanta-based UPS remained tight-lipped on the cost of the facility at Pudong International Airport, but said it has invested about USD 600 million in China in the past five years.
The hub will help position the carrier to penetrate “what probably, over the next 20 to 30 years, will be the largest domestic delivery market on Earth,” said Stephen Hoedt, UPS analyst with National City Wealth Management in Cleveland.
The new hub, plans for which were announced last spring, is expected to employ more than 1,000 by 2010 and serve cities in China as well as the United States, Europe and other parts of Asia.
The around-the-clock operation will accommodate larger, longer-range Boeing 747-400 freighters, compared with MD-11 aircraft that UPS handles out of China.
UPS now operates from leased space at the Shanghai airport, which it shares with other freight carriers. The hub, which will include office and warehouse space, will give UPS greater control over operations — allowing the carrier to employ its own workers and schedule flights as needed.
While UPS may be the first U.S. carrier to open an air hub in China, it won’t be the only one for long.
FedEx Corp. is building an air hub in Guangzhou, China, scheduled to be completed by December.
The carriers are also benefitting from the growing two-way trade between China and the rest of the world.
“China is not just an export market to the world,” UPS spokesman Mark Dickens said. “It’s also becoming an import market [for] products from the U.S.” and elsewhere.
UPS declined to disclose how much of its revenue comes from China, but said its export volume from the country was up more than 25 percent in the first nine months of 2007 compared with the prior year.
UPS, which became the first wholly owned foreign express carrier in China, serves more than 330 Chinese cities representing 85 percent of the country’s international trade activity.
UPS expanded its air operations in China throughout 2006 and said it flies to more points in China than any other U.S. airline, freight or passenger.
The company has grown its China workforce to more than 4,500 employees while developing logistics infrastructure that includes more than 60 distribution centers.
