Swiss freight forwarder Panalpina recently completed the month-long rollout of 26 direct less-than-container load (LCL) ocean freight services in Asia that it started in September.
Most of the recent expansions center on the company’s LCL hubs in Singapore, where the new additions raise the total services to 125, and Busan, South Korea, where the number of services has gone up to 75.
Each service is based on scheduled weekly sailings. Many services sail two times a week, but the company now also offers three sailings on multiple point pairs, including from Hong Kong to Singapore, Shanghai in China to Busan, and Singapore to Hamburg, Germany.
“These new services are part of an ongoing effort to constantly upgrade and develop our LCL network,” says Clas Thorell, global head of ocean freight LCL. “Our strategically placed hubs combined with our vast service network increases access to both growing and traditional markets, enabling our customers to capitalize on the existing potential, especially in Asia-Pacific.”
The LCL shipments that move through the Singapore and Busan hubs are predominantly from the high-tech, consumer and retail, fashion, and automotive industries, Panalpina said. The hubs are located within the free trade zones, minimizing connection time between container freight station and vessel.
Singapore and Busan are the second and fifth largest ports in the world, respectively, and are central to many of Asia’s key trade lanes. Singapore is widely considered the last port of call in Asia before carriers sail on the Far East westbound, Middle East, or South America trade lanes, while Busan is the last port of call for many ships before sailing over the Pacific to North or South America.
