DHL launches LCL freight service from New Zealand to Fiji
DHL has launched a new weekly less-than-truckload ocean freight service direct from New Zealand to Fiji. The service from Auckland to Suva offers a transit time of seven days, reducing the previous transit time for the route by around two days.
The offering comes alongside DHL’s existing air freight service between the south Pacific countries.
It includes DHL’s Track and Trace tool to provide full visibility through the supply chain, and the company said it also provides insurance services as a value-added service.
DHL said New Zealand was a gateway to the Pacific island for customers in Asia, Europe and North America, particularly for importing mineral products, machinery, vehicles, foods, chemical products and base metals.
The company said Fiji also acts as a distribution hub for products assembled or refined there before being exported to other markets in the Pacific.
Mahendra Singh, country manager for Fiji, said the island was trying to diversify its trading markets by engaging more with neighbouring countries, for example through trade agreements.
Singh said: “This new weekly LCL service helps our customers leverage this growth momentum better as it helps Fiji-based importers receive their products from New Zealand faster, which could then lead to speedier re-distribution to the local and neighbouring markets.”
DHL said overall exports from Fiji have trended upwards over the past decade.
“Fiji has always been a positive market for export products. We’ve identified it as a market for development and we’ll continue to monitor how DHL can best support the region, said Dr Kelvin Leung, CEO of the Asia Pacific region for DHL Global Forwarding.
DHL currently handles around 2m cubic metres of LCL freight around the world each year, carrying 97% of those volumes via its in-house network.
Asia Pacific Appointments
Lawrence Lee (left) and Tim Martin are the latest to join DHL Global Forwarding’s Asia Pacific board
Separately, DHL Global Forwarding has now finalised its senior management team for its Asia-Pacific operating division.
The latest appointees to join the firm’s Asia Pacific board are Lawrence Lee as chief information officer and Tim Martin as head of marketing and sales.
Martin is a 20-year logistics veteran who spent the past four years as VP for sales strategy and development at DHL Express in Bonn, Germany. Joining DHL in 2003, he has also worked in India, the Philippines and Malaysia with DHL Express.
In his new role, he will be based in Singapore and will lead sales activities across all 18 countries in the region.
An experienced IT professional, Lee has worked for various multinational companies, most recently at Wal-Mart Global Sourcing, where he headed up the business processes and systems group.
His role will include developing DHL Global Forwarding’s IT systems across the region, to improve cost efficiency of services and better align systems with customers.
Leung said: “Asia Pacific is a key growth region of DHL Global Forwarding worldwide. With the latest appointments, we now have a team that is even stronger, swifter and more effective in capitalising on the fast growth of intra-Asia trade to meet and exceed the demands of the challenges ahead.”
