Maersk pilots Shanghai as its new global gateway of Less-than-Container-Load (LCL) shipments.
The Danish company described this initiative as a “groundbreaking milestone” in the industry for shipments from different nearby countries and areas to be consolidated and transported via Shanghai to the rest of the world.
Maersk said that this development comes as a direct result of recently relaxed local restrictions, enabling Shanghai to play its role as an LCL global gateway to serve for international consolidation for the very first time.
“This decision also opens up new opportunities to further solidify Shanghai’s position as a vital hub in global trade,” added Maersk.
Previously LCL cargos in China were mainly transited through other traditional gateways, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, or Tanjung Pelepas. With this transformative development, Maersk has taken the initiative to pilot the new process and develop new route combinations, becoming the first company to utilize Shanghai as its LCL strategic global gateway.
“Comparing to other traditional gateways, the Shanghai gateway will greatly benefit Maersk’s global LCL network, especially for export and import operations within the Asia Pacific region, offering improved connectivity, shortened transit time, lowered cost and improved logistics efficiency,” commented Jay Zhang, Head of LCL Product at Maersk Greater China Area.
To bolster the service coverage of the Shanghai gateway, Maersk is further expanding its LCL global consolidation network. This expansion entails the introduction of over 50 new trade lanes directly connecting to and from Shanghai, resulting in over 200 direct LCL routes facilitated through the Shanghai port.