Leading international and domestic express companies in Latin America have announced investmentplans in recent weeks to build up their networks and add new services. Mexico and Brazil are the
focus of investment.DHL Express will invest about $112 million (EUR 72 million) in Mexico over the next fiveyears (2008-2012) in new hubs, gateways, the domestic air network, the ground fleet, IT systems andother measures, DHL Mexico director general Luis Eraña told local newspapers.
The operator, with 57 locations and 3,000 staff in the country, has already invested about$1.3 million to expand its hub at Mexico City’s international airport. Capacity has been increasedby 20% to be able to handle 12.9 million shipments a year.
In addition, DHL Express plans a new hub in south-east Mexico, officials said. It alreadyupgraded Mérida, on the Yucatán peninsula, into a regional gateway early last year.
Estafeta, one of the leading private operators in Mexico, will invest about $30 million (EUR19.2 million) this year to expand its network, director general José Antonio Armendáriz told localmedia. The bulk will go on a runway extension at its hub at San Luis Potosí in central Mexico thatwill enable international flight operations. The operator also plans to add three small cargoplanes to supplement its existing five B737Fs, and build new centres in Toluca, Morelia, Leon andGuadalajara.
Estafeta last year increased net sales by 13% to $250 million and carried 25 millionshipments, Armendáriz said. It is targeting 15% revenue growth this year, partly to begenerated through a new LTL trucking service covering Mexico and the USA.
In Brazil, private express company Rapidao Cometa announced earlier this month it will investR$32 million (EUR 11.8 million) in a 65,000 sqm new logistics centre in São Paulo to triplehandling capacity there. The centre, due to open in the second half of the year, will act as a basefor the company, whose businesses is mostly generated in northern Brazil, to expand in the southand south-east of the country. “In terms of business distribution by region, the company’sactivities are disproportioned,” commented commercial director Américo Pereira Filho.
Rapidao Cometa, which generates about 80% of revenues from freight transport, also wants tooffer more added-value logistics services. In 2007, the company increased its revenues by 23.6% toR$561 million (EUR 206 million) thanks to a larger customer base and new air express services. Thecompany said it aims to grow 30% in 2008.
Brazilian express operator Mercúrio, owned by TNT Express, already announced at the start ofthe year that it will buy 100 trucks this year to expand its fleet, and will open new hubs at Riode Janeiro, Fortaleza and Recife this year.
Meanwhile, Brazil Post has played down recent reports it might buy Variglog, the troubledBrazilian cargo airline, in order to build up a domestic air cargo operation instead of relying oncommercial capacity. Describing Variglog as an “option”, its president Carlos Henrique Custódiotold the newspaper Gazeta Mercantil that Brazil Post is also talking with four smaller airlinesabout “a new formation” to help its business.
In response to Variglog’s financial difficulties, rival airline Gol plans to expand its cargobusiness, branded as Gollog, by launching a new express parcel delivery service, to be calledGollog Express, in May.
Elsewhere in Latin America, TNT Express has started offering a new air service between BuenosAires and Montevideo, connecting the two capitals each working day of the week. In Peru, GrupoScharff, the local FedEx partner company, aims to broaden its portfolio by offering more FedExproducts in the second half of this year. The company increased revenues 20% to $13 million lastyear from its FedEx-branded services, according to the El Comercio newspaper.
