Tag: Asia

China express service industry may slow down

Posted by | Jan 18, 2008 | |

China’s fast developing express service industry may slow down in 2008 as cargo transportation demand from domestic and foreign companies may decrease due to the steam-losing US economy.

Logistics Association China envisions that foreign majors represented by DHL and Federal Express will tap the chance of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to reinforce their leading positions in the Chinese market, while domestic players, especially private ones, which feature smaller business volume, weaker capital strength and poorer management, will see days get harsher.

Historical data show that China’s express service industry has been growing at a pace of around 30 percent in recent years and become one of the fastest growing markets of the world.

But according to DHL China, signs of slowdown actually appeared in 2007 though the Chinese market still maintained steady growth in the year, largely due to US economy deceleration and tax policy changes, which decreased cargo transportation demands between the two countries.

DHL said those companies used to adopt air shipment switched to relatively money-saving means as seaway shipment.

Another major foreign player Federal Express China is more optimistic, saying the Chinese economy to a certain degree can be independent from world market changes and it is certain that domestic express service market will continue stable growth momentum. Domestic analysts, however, hold that with market base getting increasingly bigger, the growth of domestic express service industry will get slower as compared to years ago.

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Competition heats up in the Asian small-parcel market

Posted by | Jan 17, 2008 | |

Supply chain professionals being tasked with establishing or managing small parcel networks in Asia report being pleasantly surprised by the coverage and competition from the major parcel carriers. That said, there are some major differences between managing a small parcel logistics networks in Seattle and Shanghai.

Tom Stanton, international supply chain analyst at consulting group AFMS in Portland, Ore. says the three major parcel carriers—UPS, FedEx and DHL—are all investing heavily in the Asian markets, particularly China. He says the three are competing for reputation and market share in Asia just as fiercely as they do in the U.S., but from perhaps different positions.

Stanton says DHL has been in Asia the longest and the company claims to have as much as 38 pct of the market and combined the big three hold about two-thirds of the market. All are investing and growing dramatically in Asia. UPS is building a new hub at Shanghai’s international airport. UPS reported more than 20 pct overall business growth in China in the third quarter of 2007, with intra-Asia trade representing the fastest growth.

FedEx aims to begin operations at a USD 150 million hub in the southern city of Guangzhou in December 2008.

Most recently, DHL announced in November it was spending USD 175 million to build its North Asia Hub in Shanghai at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, due to open in the second half of 2010. The hub will be DHL’s sixth in Asia, and will be able to handle as many as 20,000 parcels and 20,000 documents an hour, the company said.

In a Bloomberg interview, Jerry Hsu, DHL’s president of Greater China, said DHL may form a domestic air-cargo venture with a local carrier. The company has held talks with a number of airlines and drawn up a shortlist based on their hubs and gateways, he added.

Beyond the three major small package players, TNT Logistics and APL Logistics may be the only other names recognizable to U.S.-based supply chain managers. The rest of the market is filled in by local and regional Asian firms covering short shipments between factories or businesses.

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Hongkong Post and China Post-Shenzhen Post Bureau launch Hong Kong-Shenzhen Direct Mail Service

Posted by | Jan 16, 2008 | |

Hongkong Post and China Post-Shenzhen Post Bureau today (January 16) jointly launched the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Direct Mail Service.
The service has been introduced in response to market demand for more efficient communication between Hong Kong and Shenzhen as a result of the increasingly prosperous social and economic interaction between the two places. Business enterprises of both regions can use the new service to develop cross-border business opportunities.
The implementation of the Individual Visit Scheme and the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) since 2004 has made the Mainland the biggest tourism market of Hong Kong. According to the statistics of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, there were 14 million Mainland visitors in 2006, within which Shenzhen contributed 47.2 pct, or more than six million visitors. The business as well as consumer demand for leisure, entertainment and shopping has continued growing, bringing tremendous business opportunities to business enterprises of both regions.
To introduce the new service, Hongkong Post and China Post-Shenzhen Post Bureau today jointly held a seminar on “How Direct Mail Can Help Companies Grasp the Cross-border Business Opportunities with Mainland China” at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre followed by the Agreement Signing Ceremony.

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Pakistan Post increases service charges

Posted by | Jan 15, 2008 | |

The Pakistan Post (PP) has increased its service charges with the start of 2008, according to an official notification made available to Daily Times.

“A commission on the issue of inland money order and urgent money order at the flat rate of Rs 50, irrespective of the value of a single money order up to Rs 10,000, shall be charged from January 1, 2008,” says the notification. The charges of the Pakistan postal order (PPO) have been increased from Rs 5 to Rs 15. The notification has been dispatched to all PP offices and they have been asked to follow it strictly. The charges have been increased for inland ordinary money orders, urgent money orders, PPO and insured articles.

A PP official told Daily Times that earlier Rs 15 were charged for the delivery of a Rs 1,000 money order and Rs 20 for a Rs 2,000 money order. An additional amount of Rs 5 was charged with the increase of every Rs 1,000 into the value of a money order, he added.

The official said most PP customers had criticised the increase in the PP service charges. “Heated arguments have become a routine at the PP offices, irritating the staff,” he said. “The PP has increased charges manifold, inconveniencing its customers,” Sahibzada Fakhar, a PP customer, said.

1 USD = 62.2600 PKR

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UPS to open Shanghai cargo hub in November

Posted by | Jan 13, 2008 | |

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.

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