Category Archives: International

Deutsche Post DHL Group (“DPDHL”) has signed an agreement to acquire up to 100 percent of J.F. Hillebrand Group AG (“Hillebrand”) and its subsidiaries at an equity value of around €1.5 billion. Hillebrand generated revenue of around €1.4 billion in the last twelve months, will ship 500,000 TEUs in 2021, and has more than 2,700 employees worldwide. Hillebrand is a global service provider specialized in ocean freight forwarding, transport and logistics of beverages, non-hazardous bulk liquids and other products that require special care. The strategic combination of Hillebrand with DHL’s Global Forwarding, Freight (“DHL”) division will strengthen the Group’s position in the dynamic ocean freight forwarding market. “With the growing maturity of our freight forwarding business, this bolt-on acquisition of Hillebrand is highly complementary to our existing portfolio. In line with our Group Strategy, we strengthen our core logistics business and deliver profitable long-term growth”, says Frank Appel, CEO Deutsche Post DHL Group. “Using our financial strength, we are able to pursue quality investments while reinforcing our unchanged commitment to deliver on investor return expectations.”

Seventy-five years ago, Delta made its official but humble entry into the cargo business. 200 pounds of freshly picked mushrooms loaded aboard a DC-3 destined for Atlanta, making farm-to-table a possibility decades before it became a culinary hashtag. That first week of operation in 1946, the airline carried a little bit of everything to customers across the U.S.: a 64-year-old, $1,500 soup tureen; 1,100 pounds of auto parts filling six crates; 450 pounds of candy; a box of silver coins. Delta planes had served the Allied cause during World War II, transporting everything from food and surgical supplies to weapons and auto parts overseas. That helped give Delta what was needed to turn cargo transport into a full-fledged business. “The airline has grown, and the nature of our Cargo business has changed significantly over the last 75 years, but we are still in the business of providing Best-in-Class service to our customers with any of their freight and logistics needs – large or small,” said Robert Walpole, vice president, Delta Cargo. “We are here to support our customers and communities in the U.S. and across the globe. We look forward to another remarkable 75 years.” Today, Delta Cargo offers access to industry-leading shipping solutions and carries on average 2.2 billion cargo tons every year. Whether it’s transporting life-saving pharmaceuticals, organs for transplant, fresh flowers, seasonal produce or beloved pets, Delta Cargo’s strong product portfolio provides world-class service for every customer’s needs.

The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) experienced record air cargo volumes during the first half of 2021 with a recovery in passenger traffic. Between January and June, 1.73 million metric tons of air cargo transited ANC, a 23.45 percent increase over the first half of 2020. “E-commerce ‘tech-celeration,’ port delays and low product inventories are causing a significant increase in air cargo activity. Our central location on the trans-Pacific trade lane, coupled with our efficient infrastructure and special transfer rights, have resulted in greater utilization of ANC by shippers to maximize their air-cargo potential,” said Jim Szczesniak, the Anchorage Airport Director. “We are seeing a continued shift in supply chains from periodic, container-sized shipments via ocean cargo to more regular, pallet-sized shipments via air cargo. With more than $1 billion in private sector cargo developments in the pipeline at ANC, we expect this growth trajectory to continue.”

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomes Air Canada Cargo to the association’s IATA Net Rates air cargo rates platform, allowing the Canadian carrier to expand its digital offering to provide an additional digital option to its customers. Under the TACT Air Cargo Solutions umbrella, freight forwarders can access the latest information on rates, rules, tariffs, schedules and compliance information that can be accessed online or integrated with customer systems, accelerating the distribution of rates to market while simplifying and reducing the cost of rate handling procedures. “IATA is very pleased to welcome Air Canada Cargo to the IATA Net Rates platform to support its cargo rates distribution processes. We look forward to future collaboration with Air Canada Cargo,” said Frederic Leger, Interim senior vice president Commercial Services and president, CNS.

Following two years of successful operations at its office in Melbourne, cargo-partner has now strengthened its setup in the country with an investment into the forwarding company Associated Customs & Forwarding (ACF). The acquisition was officially completed as of August 1, 2021. With this step, the international transport and info-logistics provider has gained two new locations in Sydney and Brisbane and grown its team in Australia to 35 employees. ACF was established in 1972 and is a global, IATA-accredited service provider for air and sea freight, customs brokerage and contract logistics. The company operates 3,000 m² of warehouse space in Sydney, including a bonded warehouse with in-house customs clearance as well as a quarantine warehouse serving the requirements of Australian import procedures. Stefan Krauter, CEO of cargo-partner, is convinced that the collaboration is a win-win situation for both companies: “Our partnership with ACF complements our existing service and product portfolio thanks to ACF’s expertise in logistics, value added services as well as domestic transport solutions. With the addition of Sydney and Brisbane to our network, we can now cover the entire east coast of Australia. At the same time, customers of ACF will benefit from cargo-partner’s comprehensive network of offices, warehouses and experienced teams around the globe.”

DP World has completed testing of the BOXBAY high bay storage concept at the first full-size facility constructed at the port of Dubai proving that the innovative technology works in the real world. More than 63,000 container moves have been completed since the facility, which can hold 792 containers at a time, was commissioned beginning this year. The test exceeded expectations with BOXBAY faster and more energy efficient than anticipated. BOXBAY is a Joint Venture between DP World and German industrial engineering specialist SMS group. The system stores containers in slots in a steel rack up to eleven high. It delivers three times the capacity of a conventional yard in which containers are stacked directly on top of each other, meaning the footprint of terminals can be reduced by 70 percent. In BOXBAY containers are moved in, out and between slots by fully electrified and automated cranes built into the structure. Individual containers can be accessed without moving any others. The whole system is designed to be fully powered by solar panels on the roof.

Lufthansa Cargo, one of the world’s leading companies in the transport of air freight, has been making significant strides in the direction of embracing sustainability and digitalization – one innovation at a time. The German cargo carrier has been on an interesting path of forging a future built with sustainability goals in mind and has rolled out a number of decisions exhibiting this especially under the leadership of Dorothea von Boxberg, Chairperson of the Executive Board and CEO of Lufthansa Cargo who took charge this March. This also comes close on the heels of the air carrier having clocked an impressive year after its revenues reached historic highs, even as the global air cargo demand has reached above 2019 levels. Despite global air freight capacity crunch leading to a fall in sales, there was an improvement in its cargo load factor and yields were up in all regions served by Lufthansa Cargo.

Denmark headquartered DSV Panalpina A/S (DSV) announced the acquisition of Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) from Agility, a Kuwait-based leader in supply chain services, innovation and investment. The enterprise value of the transaction is $4.775 billion and the equity value is $4.675 billion. “I am very pleased to welcome our new colleagues from GIL on this important day. There are many similarities when you look at our two companies both in terms of the business models and services and, not least, when we look at our shared focus on local empowerment and putting customers first,” said Jens Bjørn Andersen, Group CEO, DSV. “DSV and GIL simply constitute an excellent match. We will now start the integration, and, together, we are going to grow the business and bring even more value to our many customers, partners and shareholders than we do separately.”

The pandemic has fast-tracked the need for innovation and the increased need for transformations in the healthcare sector, especially in the transportation, logistics and last mile delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine. As transportation of medicines and pharmaceuticals is increasing due to the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine, container solution providers around the world who deliver and process temperature-controlled pharma products have been rising to the challenge posed by the pharma industry in several ways. In line with this, va-Q-tec – a German tech firm that sells products for temperature controlling and insulation-vacuum, insulation panels and phase change materials has signed a deal with Turkish Cargo to deploy its thermal container va-Q-tainer on the airline’s fleet. The container has a special low-temperature service free of dry ice down to -50°C, which is best suited for carrying and transporting the Covid-19 vaccines. va-Q-tainers can maintain various temperature ranges between -70 °C upto +25 °C for several days inside the container. In addition, the underlying production processes have been certified as climate-neutral, according to the UN Greenhouse Gas Protocol since 2020.

Cargojet has invested in a minority share of US freighter operator 21Air as it looks to grow internationally. Cargojet will acquire a 25% interest in 21Air and will “continue to collaborate with 21Air on mutually beneficial opportunities in this expanding air cargo market”. 21Air is certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a Part-121 air carrier presently operating a fleet of five Boeing 767 all-cargo aircraft. The company provides charter, ACMI, and CMI services to air cargo consolidators, freight forwarders, couriers, and integrators, including Cargojet. “This transaction is in line with Cargojet’s previously announced international growth strategy. This investment further demonstrates our ambition to build a more diversified and robust global footprint with strategic partnerships,” said Ajay Virmani, president and chief executive.