DHL Expands Sea-air Multi-modal Offering to Africa

- DHL Global Forwarding adds eight new destinations in West and Central Africa bringing DHL SEAIR Asia-Africa point pairs to 1,000 plus

JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL, is further boosting Asia-Africa trade lane growth by expanding its multi-modal product combining ocean freight and air freight services to eight new destinations in Africa. Dubbed "DHL SEAIR", the combined sea and air freight solution is now expanded to Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo), Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Dakar (Senegal), Luanda (Angola), Douala (Cameroon), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Pointe Noir (Republic of the Congo).

(Logo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/2010/09/02/20100902467742-l.jpg )

Combining the use of ocean and air freight services through DHL SEAIR allows customers to manage their supply chains more cost-effectively. On average, the DHL SEAIR service is 30 to 50 percent faster than pure ocean freight, with cost savings of 40 to 60 percent compared to standard air freight. It is also a more environmentally friendly option as the sea leg enables fuel savings and significantly lower CO2 emissions. For instance, on an audited transcontinental shipment of the same weight from Penang, Malaysia to Bristol, United Kingdom, the DHL SEAIR service shaved 20 days off transit time compared to a sea freight only solution and CO2 emissions were 2.7 times less compared to using only air freight.

Kelvin Leung, CEO, Asia Pacific, DHL Global Forwarding, said: "Trade between Asia and Africa rose more than 400 percent in the past decade from 2001 through 2010[1]. The accelerating rate of Asian trade and investment in Africa holds great promise for Africa's economic growth and development and maintaining this momentum is key. As such, the need for speedy and cost-effective connectivity between the two regions has never been greater. With 41 points of origin in Asia now connecting to as many as 26 destinations[2] in Africa via DHL's SEAIR product, DHL offers more than 1,000 point pairs across the two continents as well as tailor-made solutions on request."

With the DHL SEAIR service, shipments originating from Asia travel via ocean freight to Singapore, Dubai, Incheon, Sydney or Los Angeles, and onward via air freight to 169 destinations across the world. For customers in Africa, shipments will be forwarded primarily through Dubai and then transferred into pre-booked air cargo space to be flown into Africa. What this means is a high quality service with reliability that is assured through the use of DHL's vast network of offices and operations, expert staff, pre-determined routes and secure handling. This reliability not only stabilizes the supply chains of customers in Africa throughout the year, but makes DHL SEAIR a viable alternative during peak season congestion as well. Furthermore, DHL SEAIR uses a single combined transport document to track a customer's shipment throughout its journey for increased security, visibility and ease of management.

On a global level, DHL SEAIR services close to 7,000 point pairs in its standard offering providing worldwide coverage of lane pairs.

[1] The United Nations and the Population Reference Bureau,
[2] Refer to Appendix for full list of origins and destinations.

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Appendix:

DHL – The Logistics company for the world

DHL is the global market leader in the logistics industry and "The Logistics company for the world". DHL commits its expertise in international express, air and ocean freight, road and rail transportation, contract logistics and international mail services to its customers. A global network composed of more than 220 countries and territories and about 275,000 employees worldwide offers customers superior service quality and local knowledge to satisfy their supply chain requirements. DHL accepts its social responsibility by supporting climate protection, disaster management and education.

DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL. The Group generated revenue of 53 billion Euros in 2011.

For the latest news and happenings about DHL in Asia Pacific, visit http://press.ap.dhl.com.

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