Rail service market updates | July 2021

COVID-19: updates on DACHSER’s operations in China and Korea

We would like to inform you about the latest update on the market situations and current status of DACHSER’s operations in China and South Korea.

China

All DACHSER branches in China are open except Wuhan. Starting from March 2, most branches are operating with full teams, but the operations are not resuming to full capacity, as the local market conditions are still very challenging with shortage of labor and traffic controls. Domestic trucking remains a major issue.

General status in China

Factories are slowly picking up with their productions. Compared with last week, more factories have resumed work, but production is not up to 100% normal, while some of the factories are either still closed or operating with skeleton staffing. Generally, all businesses are gradually resuming. In many locations, authorities only allow a limited number of staff to enter the premises to prevent workplace infection. Therefore, most of the enterprises are operating with skeleton staffing, and have part of their employees working from home, if applicable. Employees who returned from the Hubei province are required to stay in quarantine for 14 days before returning to workplace. This quarantine restriction also applies to truck drivers.

DACHSER branches in China

• All DACHSER branches except Wuhan are open and resumed business. Wuhan is closed until further notice.
• A few DACHSER branches are operating with skeleton staffing due to local authorities’ preventive measures.
• Employees, if not in the office, are working from home to keep the operations ongoing.
• There are delays in some processes, as most of the units in the supply chain within China are not functioning in full capacity.

Transport logistics in China

While we are trying our best to keep your supply chain as smooth as possible, please consider that other units in the supply chain did not resume full capacity yet. Carriers and terminals are gradually resuming operations with skeleton staff. Delays and other operational issues are expected.

Road:

• Lack of truckers is currently the major issue in China.
• Inter-cities and inter-provinces trucking are especially challenging due to heavy regulations on road, making road journeys heavily delayed.

Railway:

• Rail carriers resumed to work from March except Wuhan and Yiwu, total capacity is higher compared with February.
• Rail terminals are operating (except Wuhan) overtime to achieve higher volume of container handling.
• Customs are operating except Wuhan.
• FCL service on pre/on-carriage has resumed.
• FTL service is available.
• LTL service is available for some districts.

Air:

• Airlines increased freighters from China as factories has gradually resuming production.
• Capacity is still an issue since many of the airlines suspended passenger flights.
• It is expected that space will get tighter towards end of March as factories production is ramping up.

Sea:

• Shortage of truckers and equipment
• Carriers have reduced sailings to and from China.
• Westbound: Cargo volume is recovering as more factories are resuming production; backlog is expected once the factories are fully operative, leading to shortage of truckers and space.
• Eastbound: Intense space shortage
• Ocean terminals are operating, except Wuhan.

South Korea

Overall, the factories are open and operating normally except in Daegu where some factories are closed because their staff was infected with the virus. Business are mostly not affected, some enterprises including some of the carriers are having special working arrangement such as implementing flexible working hours or allowing staff to work from home.

DACHSER branches in South Korea

All DACHSER branches in Korea are currently open. To protect the safety of our staff, employees are asked to work from home whenever applicable. The operations teams are working on shift in the office at flexible hours to keep our service delays to minimal.

Transport logistics in South Korea

Air:

• Intra-Asian flag carriers have suspended passenger flights to and from South Korea. Therefore more than 50% of the capacity is reduced.

Sea:

• Currently there are no major impacts except blank sailing.

Domestic trucking:

• Minor delays for pick-up and delivery especially to and from Daegu due to road restrictions and preventive measures, no major issues at other places with in South Korea.

 At DACHSER, we have contingency measures in place and will offer you the best alternative solutions to keep your supply chain running in case any shipment is affected. We will keep our customers updated with the latest information on the current situation. Should you have any concerns and/or queries, please feel free to contact your local DACHSER representative.

Rail service market updates | December 2021

According to statistics, the number of freight trains running between China and Europe in 2020 has increased 15 times compared to 2015, reaching the number of more than 12,000 trains last year. In 2021, a further increase was recorded and the CRE (China Railway Express) experienced even greater demand in times of the pandemic due to a lack of sea and air freight capacity. However, the pandemic impact was also evident on Rail Service connections between China and Europe.

• Current Situation and Review 2021

As experienced during the year, the situation remains challenging. The shortage of container equipment and increased slot restrictions, comparable to the sea freight market, have also become problematic for rail service. In addition, pandemic regulations as well as weather conditions have led to backlogs at border crossings. The rates are increased, but stable.

• Outlook 2022

The situation will remain challenging until Chinese New Year, but it is expected that the slot management setup will improve thereafter. Overall, the demand on capacity will continue to grow significantly in 2022.

DACHSER offers reliable multimodal rail services with an extensive coverage, connecting economic centers of major importance in China and Europe. Via the North Corridor, the so-called Trans-Siberian Route, DACHSER connects Hamburg, Warsaw, Vienna and Bratislava with the Chinese main terminal cities like Changchun, Shenyang, and Suzhou. To and from Duisburg, Hamburg, Neuss, Ludwigshafen, Vienna, Bratislava and Warsaw, DACHSER serves the West Corridor, also known as New Silk Road, to the Chinese hinterland areas of Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing and Zhengzhou.

Not only Block Trains but also Full Container Load (FCL) service is possible on this service, as well as Less-Than-Container-Load (LCL) which includes Consolidation Container Services (LCL-LCL) and Customer Consolidations (LCL-FCL).​​​​​​​

Should you require any other departure terminals and/or destinations like the ones mentioned above or some more detailed information on Rail Services, your DACHSER contact will be glad to assist.

COVID-19 update: Impact on DACHSER’s operations in India

Due to the outbreak of second wave of Coronavirus, we would like to give you an update about the impact on DACHSER’s operations in India. The situation as of today, April 28, 2021, is as follow:

DACHSER branches in India

• Most branch offices across India are being kept closed as a precautionary measure due to the sudden rise of COVID cases. Our teams are working from home, with only skeletal staff at the offices and hence there are likely to be delays in responses due to the ongoing crisis.
• As a consequence of the lockdown, there are some operational impacts for air, sea, customs clearance and domestic trucking.

Air freight

• Most countries have barred passenger traffic from India leading to no passenger carrying flights operating on International routes from/to India.
• This has created some additional constraint on already stressed space availability situation.
• Rates are bound to inch upwards for all sectors.
• Transit times too have increased as a consequence of capacity crunch.

Sea freight

• Sea freight was already facing the challenges due to the Suez Canal blockage end of March.
• Ports and terminals are functioning normally, but vessel schedules are impacted on account of the Suez Canal blockage as well as the sudden rise of COVID cases in India.
• Delays, roll overs are expected. Customers are advised to factor in delays of 1-2 weeks while planning their inventories.
• Expect more delays in communication or operations due to increasing COVID infections among staff at ports, customs, CFS and shipping lines.

Customs

• We do not have any unexpected disruptions in cargo movement in India, nor is any work stoppage expected at present.
• Customs clearance activities are functional at the movement.
• Customs is working with less manpower, no Customs Brokers is allowed to meet the customs officials, all processes is done faceless and things are moving in slow phase.

At DACHSER, we have undertaken significant measures to ensure our employees’ health and safety, at the same time continue to manage our day-to-day operations with minimal impact to our customers’ supply chains. Our teams are working diligently by all possible means in these testing times to assist and to overcome the challenges being faced.

Please rest assured that we will keep you updated of any changes to the current situation. hould you have any concerns and/or queries, please feel free to contact your local DACHSER representative in the region.