DHL Express has announced a €335m expansion plan for its Central Asia Hub (CAH). The expansion will bring DHL’s commitment to the strategic hub to over €520m. As one of three global hubs for DHL, the expanded CAH will continue to act as the core hub of the DHL Express global and Asia Pacific regional network, handling more than 40% of its total Asia Pacific shipment volumes.
In a statement issued today (14 November), Ken Allen, CEO of DHL Express, said: “Given the expected rise in international e-commerce and intra-Asian trade, DHL is committed to strengthening our global network and services. Based in a strategically important location to DHL, the expanded Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong will not only bolster our operational capacity in Asia Pacific, but also facilitate the rapidly-growing international trade demands in the region and around the world.”
The expanded CAH will be equipped with an enhanced material handling system that will boost hub’s throughput capacity from the current 75,000 pieces of shipments per hour to 125,000 pieces per hour.
When operating at its full capacity, the annual throughput of the expanded CAH is expected to go up by 50% to 1.06m tonnes a year.
Ken Lee, CEO of DHL Express Asia Pacific, commented: “Connecting with more than 70 DHL Express gateways in the region, the Central Asia Hub plays a significant role in strengthening our existing network of hubs in Asia Pacific, including Shanghai, Singapore and Bangkok. The expansion will also help us capitalize the growth in intra-Asian trade lane that currently contributes to 40% of our revenue in Asia Pacific. Equipped with fully automated X-ray inspection machines, it will increase the speed of our shipment inspection by three times – enabling us to expedite the processing speed of shipments that come through the CAH.”
The expanded CAH is expected to begin operations in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022.