DHL sees surge in road logistics in Southeast Asia

• New
  DHL whitepaper: renewed economic growth in ASEAN countries will give rise to
  demand for logistics services as trade recovers
• Road
  freight to grow substantially with regulatory initiatives, economic rebound, e-commerce
  boom and increasing demand for sustainable logistics solutions in the region

SINGAPORE – Media
OutReach – 18 August 2021 – DHL
Global Forwarding, the leading international freight specialist division of
Deutsche Post DHL Group, foresees a strong
and sustained growth in cross-border road transportation in Southeast Asia
where the e-commerce sector is expected to grow 5.5% in 2021. The predicted upswing is also driven by the renewed growth in
many of Southeast Asia’s leading economies, as manufacturing rebounds and
companies regionalize and diversify their supply chains. These trends are
outlined in the whitepaper, “Southeast Asia Freight: The Road to
Growth”, released today.   

“With the easing of
trade restrictions and implementation of new regulatory initiatives in the
region such as the ASEAN Customs Transit System and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, trade cooperation will continue to
strengthen and bolster intra-Asia trade. This augurs well for ASEAN countries
as they gear up to bounce back strongly from the Covid-19 pandemic,” said
Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific.

One of the most significant developments is the ASEAN Customs Transit
System (ACTS) introduced in 2020, which allows operators to move goods seamlessly
across multiple ASEAN borders with a single guarantee that covers duties and
taxes for the entire journey.

Road freight:
an attractive and sustainable logistics solution on the rise

With East Asian economies expected to drive trade growth in 2021, the ASEAN road freight
market is expected to witness a CAGR of greater than 8% during the
forecasted period of 2020-2025. The rise in e-commerce consumer spending and B2B e-commerce,
which is predicted to see a 70% increase by 2027, is also pushing demand for
door-to-door logistics solutions.

“Road freight is now
playing a more significant role in international long-haul solutions across
Asia as it offers a cost effective and sustainable option. As we have seen in
the last year with volatile air and ocean freight rates during the Covid-19
pandemic, road or multimodal solutions have offered more stable pricing,
capacity, and easier border access in Southeast Asia,” said Thomas Tieber, CEO,
DHL Global Forwarding Southeast Asia.

Road freight is
significantly cheaper and generates less emissions than air freight, while
offering increased security and faster lead times than ocean freight. Road
solutions are also highly flexible with trucks able to manage door-to-door
local, cross-border, long-haul and short-haul deliveries.

Increasingly,
customers are choosing to truck their short- and long-haul shipments for part
of, or the entire journey due to the reduced carbon emissions it offers as
compared to airfreight. An air-road shipment from Jakarta to Bangkok via
Singapore cuts carbon emissions by half, in addition to cost savings of 35%, as
compared to a direct flight, while trucking a shipment from Singapore to China
reduces carbon footprint by 83% as compared to airfreight.

“Road logistics is
seeing a greener future, powered by technology to become more efficient and
secure, and being more sustainable with carbon efficient fuels. Together, these
factors are transforming the road freight sector and creating ever more
attractive and sustainable logistics solutions,” added Tieber.

Note to
editors:

In Southeast
Asia, the market share of road freight transportation is expected to grow
substantially with new initiatives and an imminent economic recovery.  Read more on DHL’s Logistics of Things.