Asia-Europe rail

Maersk doubles AE19 Asia-Europe rail capacity again as demand grows

Just months after transforming its Asia-Europe rail offering into a weekly service, Maersk is set to double capacity again and offer two departures a week.
The container carrier said demand for the AE19 service had outstripped supply in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Volumes had nearly doubled in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak when shipping lines introduced widespread blanking programmes and many countries began social lockdowns.
Attracted by competitive prices as …

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Blanked sailings and soaring air rates push shippers to China-Europe rail

While the air freight industry may be wary of the surge in growth of Asia-Europe rail services, more customers are moving there from sea freight, according to one forwarder.
Container traffic from China to Europe via rail grew 34% in the first half of this year, with a 72% rise year on year in June alone.
Exports to China are also gathering pace, albeit from a lower starting point, up 58% in …

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Demand puts pressure on Maersk Spot, but ocean-rail service now permanent

Strong customer demand has forced Maersk to remove its Maersk Spot product from some departures.
Maersk Spot offers a loading guarantee, online booking and a fixed price and forwarders reported it had been disabled, with “Maersk unable to get the bookings away on westbound,” said one.
“Even if you want to pay, you can’t play!”
A spokesperson for Maersk told The Loadstar: “We can confirm that we have taken the Maersk Spot product off the …

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DP World to take a 60% stake in South Korean forwarder Unico

Global port operator DP World is set to increase its presence in the freight forwarding and logistics sector, agreeing to acquire 60% of South Korean firm Unico Logistics for an undisclosed sum.
DP World said it had begun seeking regulatory clearances and expected the deal to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
Unico Logistics is one of South Korea’s largest NVOCCs and has particular focus on the automotive vertical. It …

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Maersk to double frequency of sea-rail AE19 service for capacity-hit shippers

Maersk is to double the frequency of its AE19 rail-sea service between South Korea and Northern Europe, as shippers and forwarders on the trade continue to struggle to secure ocean and air freight capacity.
The service, operated in cooperation with South Korean freight forwarder Pantos Logistics, will move from monthly to fortnightly and will now include a backhaul leg – so far it has only run westbound.
“Frequent cancellations and congestion in …

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Forwarders switch focus from costly air and ocean to overland Asia-Europe

Substantial price and capacity volatility in air freight and blanked sea freight sailings have pushed attention toward overland routes between Asia and Europe.
InstaFreight, a road specialist, is one forwarder offering trucking services across Eurasia and claims that, with congestion affecting Chinese exports, the delivery times are similar to air – but cheaper and “more stable”.
Depending on the number of drivers and the origin and destination, InstaFreight claims a transit of …

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Asia-Europe airfreight traffic could be permanently lost to rail or sea

Major supply chains out of Asia could see a sustained modal shift in the aftermath of global coronavirus lockdowns, as supply and demand in the air fright sector continues to fluctuate wildly.
Jan van Castaeran, Europe managing director at Flexport, told The Loadstar this week the response of carriers to coronavirus was pushing many shippers to rethink their supply chains.
“The first quarter in ocean freight saw a decent recovery, and the …

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Fesco and RZD launch joint Korea-Europe service via Trans-Siberian Railway

Russian container shipping line Fesco and state rail operator RZD have launched a service to ship boxes from Korea to Europe via the Trans-Siberian Railway.
The two companies said the launch followed a trial shipment last month from the South Korean container hub of Pusan to the Polish rail terminal at Brzeg Dolny.
The shipment moved on a Fesco vessel to its terminal at Russia’s pacific port of Vladivostok and then by …

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