18 February 2010

Belgium-US and China-Poland routes helps provide improved end-to-end services

Panalpina now offers two new LCL (less than container load) services to its sea freight customers. By adding seamless connections between Belgium and the US, as well as between China and Poland, the Company is meeting an ever growing demand for improved end-to-end services.

Panalpina explains that, contrary to the overall market development, the demand for additional in-network LCL sea freight services continued to grow throughout 2009 as customer focus on safe solutions from door-to-door, provided and controlled by one party, remained high.

In many cases, as changes in order frequency and size no longer justified an FCL (full container load) shipment, it became even more important to customers that their goods now shipped as LCL shipments were handled by the least number of parties, be it trucking companies, warehouse operators, handling agents, or shipping lines.

> Every week from Antwerp, Belgium to Houston Texas

The newly inaugurated service from Antwerp to Houston complements the existing sea freight LCL service portfolio from Continental Europe to the Gulf of Mexico. It provides weekly guaranteed sailings based on Panalpina’s long-time partner NYK Line. Shipments from Benelux, France and Switzerland are consolidated in Panalpina’s strategic LCL sea hub in Antwerp, serving Houston, Dallas, El Paso, Laredo, McAllen, New Orleans and Tulsa in the Southern US. Transit time from port to port is 18 days.

This service is particularly important for customers from the oil and gas segment. In addition, it provides a valuable in-network connection for cross-border shipments into Mexico.

> From Ningbo, China to Wroclaw, Poland

Also based on NYK Line, Panalpina has introduced its second newly guaranteed LCL service on the Far East Westbound trade lane, connecting Ningbo with Wroclaw in Poland with a through transit time of 26 days. With this new service from Ningbo, Panalpina strengthens its LCL sea service connecting Central China with Poland, which includes an already existing direct LCL service from Shanghai to Wroclaw.

Additional services from Asia-Pacific to Wroclaw are currently being reviewed as Panalpina expects considerable growth in Poland, especially within the Hi-Tech industry.