DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL, has launched its eighth global multinational gateway in the South Korean port of Busan.

The hub enables DHL to launch 13 new cost-effective Less than Container Load (LCL) services, adding to the existing 13 services offered.

Operated and managed wholly in-house by DHL, customers enjoy total visibility over shipments on some of the busiest trade routes in the world and reductions in transit times of up to one week.

Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, said, “Busan’s location between Japan and China makes it an ideal transshipment point for cargo moving to the Americas from North Asia. According to some industry reports, we will see trade between Asia and North America grow almost 5 per cent in 2013 and over 5 per cent in 2014.”

“The launch of DHL’s 8th Global Multinational Gateway in Busan puts us in prime position to take advantage of that growth potential. In addition to the 13 new services that will be introduced with the opening of this facility, we plan to launch another 20 new direct LCL services out of South Korea over the next year.”

SP Song, country manager, South Korea, DHL Global Forwarding, said: “The 13 new LCL services we are introducing to the market consolidate shipments from five North Asian origins such as Dalian, Xingang and Qingdao in China, Hakata in Japan, and Busan in South Korea. The consolidated shipments are then delivered to eight countries in the Americas, namely the USA, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, and Argentina.”

With the new Gateway, DHL not only gives our customers more trading opportunities, we also give them peace of mind over their shipments – we are one of the first logistics players in Korea to wholly own and operate our LCL services end-to-end, guaranteeing full visibility over these shipments.”

DHL has invested approximately half a million Euros in the setup of the Busan multinational gateway, which shortens transit times for customers and businesses in Japan, Korea and China.

Marc Meier, global head, LCL Management, DHL Global Forwarding, said: “Analysts project the logistics industry in Asia Pacific to record double-digit growth increases over the next three years.”

“With increasing integration and free trade agreements, DHL understands that customers need service providers to create infrastructure and services that offer single market simplicity, speed and service. DHL’s strategically sited multinational gateways allow us to offer customers fast and flexible access to a network that spans the globe with consolidation services and consignment visibility that are unrivalled.” – TradeArabia News Service