Tag: International

US integrators boost air freight services outside home turf

Posted by | Jan 28, 2008 | |

UPS and FedEx have expanded their air freight services, predominantly in Asia. Rival DHL, meanwhile, is facing calls for a retreat from the US.

FedEx is out to get a larger share of the intra-Asian air freight market. On January 10, the integrator launched an economy door-to-door service for shipments between 10 markets in the region as well as for exports from these areas to North America and Europe.

The new “International Economy” offering is a day-definite product with transit times that are typically one or two days longer than the FedEx’s premium service. On intra-Asian legs, this means usually two business days, whereas shipments to the US or major European centres take three to four business days on average.

At this point, the service is available in Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. In March, FedEx plans to extend it to Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Small to medium-sized companies are the main target group of the new offering. According to the integrator, the product addresses the needs of customers in Asia who look primarily for reliability and cost efficiency.

Individual packages must weigh 68 kilos or less, but there are no weight restrictions on multi-piece shipments. The service includes Customs clearance and a money-back guarantee.

UPS has overhauled its international air freight portfolio, with the emphasis on markets outside its US home turf. The new line-up, which features three products, is a move to integrate the company’s air freight services into a single portfolio along the lines of its express parcel set-up.

Rival DHL is facing a bigger challenge to get its house in order, according to major Wall Street firms. Over the past couple of months, Bear Stearns and Morgan Stanley both released studies that characterised the express outfit’s foray into the US market as a loss-making disaster with no black figures in sight.

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DHL Japan opens its new package drop-off center

Posted by | Jan 28, 2008 | |

DHL opened this new Express Center in the KNT Tourist Nihonbashi Sales Office under a business entrustment agreement with KNT Tourist Co., Ltd., a travel agency operated by Kinki Nippon Tourist Co., Ltd. The new Express Center will accept documents and packages dropped off at the facility by DHL account holders.

Notably, the new DHL Nihonbashi Express Center is the first location in Japan to offer the DHL Simple Pack Service, an easy-to-use service featuring a simplified fee structure. The DHL Simple Pack Service offers dedicated envelopes and boxes, the fees for which are not calculated according to weight but rather according to destination zone (Asia Pacific, America, or Europe / Other regions). These fixed fees are not subject to adjustments based on monthly rate fluctuations in jet fuel surcharges.

The DHL Nihonbashi Express Center is located in the historic Nihonbashi area, Japan’s financial center and an important business district with roots dating back to the Edo Period. The large concentration of companies and proximity to the Shin-Nihonbashi Station and many other JR and subway stations mean convenient access for customers to drop off shipments on their way to/from work, as well as while shopping or other leisure activities. The new Express Center is expected to meet the anticipated high demand from not only corporate customers but also office workers, business travelers, as well as tourists who wish to send personal shipments to overseas destinations.

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Deutsche Post seeks FedEx partnership to stem DHL Express US losses – report

Posted by | Jan 25, 2008 | |

Deutsche Post is reportedly in talks with FedEx over a partnership with DHL Express designed to reduce its heavy losses in the USA. The report, which follows news of the planned EUR 600m writedown of US assets, has not been confirmed.

The Financial Times Deutschland reported today that DPWN executives want FedEx to take over DHL Express’ domestic US operations. In exchange, DHL Express would provide services in Europe for FedEx. Talks are taking place with FedEx chairman Fred Smith, the newspaper said, citing sources close to the company. DPWN CFO John Allan told the newspaper: “We have several options.”

News agencies cited DPWN spokespersons as saying that no decisions have yet been made about the future of the US express business. Talks with FedEx were not confirmed.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung’s online website cited Allan on Friday as saying that it was “ very, very unlikely” that the domestic US business would be given up due to the strategic importance of the market. The priority was to reduce the US losses “as quickly as possible and very substantially”. But this did not necessarily mean having to make a profit in the USA since a substantial amount of international business was generated there, he noted.

Influential analysts recently called on DPWN to downscale its US express operations significantly to reduce long-running heavy losses. Last November, due to the increasing impact of the slowing US economy, DPWN scrapped the target of achieving a breakeven in the USA by 2009.

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DHL denies sale to FedEx

Posted by | Jan 25, 2008 | |

A DHL spokesman says parent company Deutsche Post World Net has no plans to sell its U.S. Express delivery service to its Memphis-based rival FedEx Corp.

“There is no question about our exiting the U.S. business, a withdrawal can be completely ruled out,” DHL spokesman Jonathan Baker said in a phone interview with Memphis Business Journal, a Courier sister paper, Friday morning.

Baker said he’d been fielding calls from news media across the country after a story about a possible deal appeared in Financial Times Deutschland, a German business newspaper, Friday morning.

That report said Deutsche Post World Net was in talks with FedEx founder, chairman, president and CEO Frederick Smith about the possibility of a buyout or a partnership.

In return, Deutsche Post World Net would give FedEx a larger presence in the European market, according to the report.

DHL is the main customer for ABX Air, based in Wilmington. DHL has spent billions of dollars to build up its domestic presence. Nonetheless, U.S. operations lost USD 900 million last year and analysts don’t foresee a profit this year.

The company has said it will take an USD 874 million writedown of the value of its struggling DHL Express business in the Americas. Baker said that move was more about accounting than sales and said DHL’s problems were industrywide.

“Just like everyone else, (our problems) are a result of economic conditions that have affected the industry as a whole,” he said. “We’re continuing improvement in our U.S. business and are dedicated to serving our customers.”

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