aiwan-based Dimerco is on a mission. According to Chief Executive Officer Paul Chien, Dimerco’s ‘air’ section comprises some 50 percent of its business, but further growth is planned.
He claims the company, which was established in 1971 and already boasts a network covering all continents and over 300 service outlets in 55 countries, will be transformed into one of the world’s foremost 3PL brands in the coming years.
     “Our company's vision focuses on becoming the world's most competitive global transportation and logistics service provider, integrator, and consultant,” he said.
     “Dimerco is moving forward in emerging countries for our network expansion, and we are also looking to products diversification.”
     Last year the non-asset logistics service provider managed nearly 115,000 customs brokerage jobs, and handled some 180,000 tonnes of air cargo consisting of 450,000 shipments.
     Chien said there would be a strong focus on growing Asian business in the years ahead, with China in particular viewed as a huge opportunity in the air sector. “We position ourselves as ‘Your China Logistics Specialist,’” he said. “We are continually expanding marketing and service outlets in the market.
     “Although exports are decreasing in China, the import trade is increasing. On the other hand, factories in China have been moving inland and/or to South East Asian countries from coastal cities where labor costs and demands for labor rights are increasing rapidly. This will drive regional air cargo demand.”
     Expansion is also ongoing elsewhere. The company acquired a U.S.-based customs brokerage service company, MYK Global Service Inc., in January this year, and in October launched a new India Joint Venture named Dimerco Express (India) Pvt. Ltd.
     “Being a BRIC emerging market country, and having signed various FTAs within the region, Dimerco believes India has major growth prospects,” said Chien. “While the new JV setup aims at better serving our customers, Dimerco also works to offer a more comprehensive service network to assist clients with global strategic operation needs.
     “For closer to local customers, many hi-tech manufacturers have already chosen India as one of their production sites for supplies to the local market and India’s economy has significantly developed in the last decade.”
     This year air cargo performance has been a mixed bag. Chien said demand had fluctuated with global consumer confidence, with the European debt crisis acting as a drag on key trade lanes, prompting carriers to cut capacity. “In Jan-Feb, the performance started low, then it got better from March,” he said. “In Q2, it performed positively compared with the prior period. However, it was a little bit down in August before returning to growth in September.”
     Looking ahead, he was optimistic about regional trade in Asia due to the 10+1 FTA and the diversification of manufacturing around Asia. He also believes Transpacific trade will improve as the U.S. economy recovers, but said the European debt crisis would not be solved in the short term.
     “In the U.S., demand has seen a large improvement compared with 2011, owing primarily to the impact of tight capacity management,” he said. “Per IATA data, this region has also maintained consistently high load factors averaging 83.2 percent for January to August 2012.
     “From our perspective, we are confident on Asian regional trade and continue to offer customers cost-conscious rates, especially on selected target lanes that we have been developing and focused on in past years. But European import demand has been affected seriously by the crisis.
     “Tonnage-wise, all the main cargo airports in the Euro zone have had a decline of double digits compared with same period of last year.
     “However, there are more exports from Europe so it is more balanced now versus imports due to the growth of several emerging countries in Asia Pacific as well as the currency depreciation. The main growth areas are luxury items, pharmaceuticals, hi-tech products, and precision machinery.”
SkyKing

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