DHL said yesterday it was increasing planned investment for South Korea to EUR 57.7 million ($75million), seeing the peninsula’s Incheon international airport as key to its Asian expansion.
Klaus Zumwinkel, CEO of DHL’s parent Deutsche Post, marked the 30th anniversary of thecarrier’s presence in Korea by announcing the $50 million earmarked for Korea in November had beenbolstered to $75 million.
Most of the money will be used to expand DHL’s facilities at Incheon, which was in line withthe Korean government’s plan to turn the airport into a North-East Asian distribution hub,Zumwinkel told journalists.
DHL has around 85 service centres in South Korea and 1,500 employees. It has invested someEUR 14 million in the republic since 2001, with demand for new facilities being driven by Korea’sbooming trade with China.
Air cargo between the two countries has increased by an average 30% a year over the past fiveyears. Annual air cargo volume at Incheon is expected to reach seven million tonnes by 2020.
The Deutsche Post subsidiary is to relocate the Incheon facility next to its airsideterminal, expanding from a current 2,000 sqm to up to 20,000 sqm in the future.
The new facility should be able to handle 500 tonnes of cargo a day and will triple thesorting rate for goods to 8,000 items per hour, up from the current 2,500/hr.
