TNT targets strong growth in SE Asia
TNT Express is targeting strong growth in South-East Asia following the recent launch of its new Europe-Singapore-China freighter service and the announcement of a EUR 100 million five-year investment in its network and infrastructure in the region.
The operator is likely to invest about half of the figure in its air operations through Singapore while a large amount of the rest will go on a new handling facility with airside access at Changi airport, which will become its main hub in the region, the International Freighting Weekly reported.
In Singapore, TNT Express said it has seen an eightfold increase in its healthcare business in the past four years, including 68% growth last year, making it the fastest growth sector for the express operator. TNT last year opened a 65,000 sq ft regional distribution centre for its life sciences business in Singapore.
In Malaysia, country manager Gerry Power welcomed the new Singapore-China freighter service, saying TNT could now offer Malaysian exporters a choice of air- and road-based solutions. “Given Malaysia’s strong export volumes to China and the rest of the region, the expansion of our network coverage and connectivity is timely,” he commented.
TNT has been growing at 30% in Malaysia over the last two years, outpacing the local market growth of 10-12%, thanks to an image change, new services and improved infrastructure, Power told the Business Times in an interview. “We have had a bit of a perception problem in Malaysia,” he said. “Many of our customers believe that we just do documentation and package deliveries when we actually offer much more than that.”
TNT Southeast Asia regional managing director Onno Boots added that this problem is not unique to Malaysia, but something which TNT is facing in Asia. “Here (Asia) we are known as a courier company, when we are so much more than a courier company,” he said.
In Indonesia, TNT hopes for annual volume growth of up to 50% compared to previous growth rates of 15-20% now that it can offer freighter capacity out of Singapore, Andry Adiwwinarso, sales and marketing manager Indonesia, told the Jakarta Post. The company uses capacity on planes leased from Malaysian carrier Transmile to fly freight from Indonesia to Singapore.
In Thailand, TNT plans to open a new 3,465 sqm depot in Rangit, north of Bangkok, this month to act as a regional hub for the Greater Mekong region, the Bangkok Post reported. The depot will link with 26 branches across Thailand and with the operator’s Asian Road Network to neighbouring countries.
To the north-east, TNT Vietnam is showing strong growth rates, the Vietnam News reported, citing TNT country manager Mark van den Assem. The operator’s traffic with China was up by 90%, with Singapore by 35% and with Europe by 30% in the first quarter of this year, it wrote.
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