DHL Express kicks off $47m expansion project at US hub
DHL Express has announced a further expansion to its Americas international hub facility at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (CVG) Airport in the United States.
The project is part of a wave of expansion projects for the company around the world, including in Canada, France and Australia.
The company held a ground breaking ceremony at its US hub yesterday, launching the $47m project that will involve construction of an additional sorting facility at the site in Erlanger, Kentucky.
The project is expected to create 280 jobs, and should be completed by November.
The new facility will comprise a 17,930 square metre sorting plant, which will be connected to the existing main sorting facility at CVG. Other improvements at the site will also be made, along with the purchase of new material-handling equipment, for completion by March 2013.
The latest expansion of the CVG hub brings the total invested in the facility by DHL Express to $109m since the company first established its US hub at the site in 2009.
The hub currently handles more than 2m international shipments each month, connecting more than 100 service centres and five international gateways in the US with operations in Canada, Mexico and Latin America, and across to Europe and Asia.
Staffing levels at the hub has already grown from 1,600 in late 2009 to 2,000, and should grow to 2,300 over the next 12 months.
Ken Allen, the DHL Express chief executive, said the investment in the facility was being made to support growth in international express shipments seen now, but also the “significant” potential for volumes to grow to and from the Americas in the mid- to long-term.
“It forms part of a major ongoing investment programme in our global network infrastructure,” he said of the project.
“We are continuing to add capacity in order to further enhance our service offering on key trade lanes and strengthen our leading positioning in the international time definite delivery market.”
Expansion wave
DHL Express has announced a number of expansion projects around the world in recent days, including a new air express office in Annecy, France, as well as a new purpose-built processing hub at Brisbane airport in Australia, and a new centralised facility in Toronto, Canada.
The new facility in Brampton, Ontario, consolidates operations in the Toronto area from three previous facilities into a single site. Opening today, the facility includes a 9,290 square metre warehouse and more than 3,000 square metres of office space.
The new site should reduce operating costs for DHL’s operations in the region, processing packages from 57 international routes, with the capacity to increase to 90 routes and accommodate projected business needs for the next five to 10 years, DHL said.
Greg Hewitt, the president of DHL Express Canada, said: “The consolidation is the next step in continuing to expand our international services, increase routes and better serve the growing base of global customers looking to do business in Canada.”
The AUD $15m ($15.8m USD) facility at Brisbane airport will comprise a purpose-built processing facility that will improve capacity by 10-15%, along with new office facilities. DHL said despite the devastation caused by recent flooding in the Queensland area, it was positive regarding the outlook for the local economy.
The office in Argonay, Annecy, doubles the size of the old facility to 1,000 square metres in size, to build particularly on growth in shipments to the Rhone and Alps region, including shipments to some of the big Alpine ski resorts.
The facility supports processing of around 1,200 packages a day, with 13 vehicles and 17 staff.
