DHL Global Forwarding, the freight division of mail and logistics group Deutsche Post DHL, has developed a new door-to-door delivery service between Europe and China, it was announced earlier this week. In partnership with rail operator YHF logistics, DHL will offer a new train service between Chengdu in South West China and Poland, cutting transit times by 40 days compared to ocean freight.
The new 14-day long route to Malaszewicze, Poland, costs just a sixth of the air freight cost for the same journey and, after passing through DHL's Polish hub, includes an onward route to Moscow via truck, meaning a transit of 20 days from China to the Russian capital.
Asia Pacific CEO for DHL Global Forwarding acknowledged it may seem counter-intuitive to ship through Russia, to Poland, then back to Moscow but defended the move in an interview with Post and Parcel on the grounds that it enabled avoidance of the complex and potentially problematic Moscow rail system. "Our innovative multi-modal team has found that mixing two different modes of rail and truck and taking this route in fact cuts transit time and transport costs significantly by pre-empting and overcoming potetnial delays that be encountered when entering Moscow by rail," he said.
Bi-lateral trade between Poland and China grew 11.2% year-on-year in 2012. DHL is doubtless aware of the growing importance of China to the Global Economy and to its own future profitability. The company recently held its annual technology conference in Shanghai, China, at which the importance of the Asian market was a prime concern. The logistics provider also dedicated the opening pages of its 2012 annual report to a special chapter on China entitled, "Pioneering Future Markets".
Source: Post and Parcel
