China Ocean Shipping Group (Cosco) is looking to tap into the fledgling China-Europe rail freight market, a move that could drive more imports from Europe, while the company remains pessimistic about the near-term prospects of the seaborne transport market.
“We have a far-reaching sales network at home and abroad. We would like to use this asset to contribute to drawing more backhaul cargo from Europe to China, for Yuxinou Logistics”, Cosco chairman Ma Zehua said.
Founded in 2012, Yuxinou is a joint venture between companies in countries across the 11,179km rail link to Germany.
It started out from providing block train services for laptops produced by Hewlett-Packard, which has a large manufacturing base in Chongqing. As of last month, Yuxinou had run 170 freight train services, each carrying 41 40-foot containers.
Rail freight takes about 16 days to arrive in Duisburg, Germany, 20 days less than the sea route through the Suez Canal. But it is also five times more expensive than sea freight, a sticking point that has deterred some shippers and manufacturers.
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