Deutsche Post DHL expects to take further market share in the US from FedEx and UPS after expandingits share of the US international express market over the last two years, according to CEO Frank
Appel.He was speaking to reporters and analysts ahead of today’s official opening of DHL’s expandedmain US air express hub in Cincinnati.
The company revealed yesterday that DHL Express had boosted its revenues in the US by morethan one-third last year to over €1 billion, claiming the division’s strategy of focusing ontime-definite international (TDI) shipments was “paying off”.
DHL Express’s revenues in the Americas region increased by around 20 per cent last year tomore than €2.2 billion, due in particular to the good US business and higherrevenues in Mexico. DHL’s share of the international express business in the Americas regionincreased from 13 per cent to 16 per cent in 2011, with FedEx and UPS holding 50 per cent and 30per cent respectively, and TNT around 1 per cent, according to DP DHL figures.
DHL’s TDI shipment volumes in the Americas improved by 8.1 per cent last year, including a6.6 per cent improvement in the fourth quarter, and although regional figures have not beenpublished for this year, DHL Express’s global TDI shipment volumes were up 10 per cent in the firstquarter of 2013.
At the time of writing, no-one at Deutsche Post DHL was able to provide up-to-date marketshare information, although Appel said the trend had continued, supported by the construction ofnew express capacity.
“We are head-to-head competitors with UPS and FedEx; the difference is that we have wonmarket share in the US in the last two years,” Appel told Bloomberg Television yesterday. He saidthe company planned to continue taking market share from its rivals in express, supply chain andglobal forwarding in North and South America.
After expanding its air express hub in Cincinnati in 2011, the company has just competed aone-year, $50 million further expansion at the airport. With business in the region developing welland showing “high long-term potential”, it also opened a new hub in Mexico in September 2012and a new air freight centre at Miami airport at the end of last year designed to meet growingcustomer needs for shipments to and from Latin America.
Appel also repeated his calls for a free-trade zone between the EU and the US to be quicklyput in place, something that has been gathering political momentum in recent months. He said suchan agreement would produce at least one additional percent of growth in both regions respectivelyand “generate innovative momentum in many industries and sectors”.
He added: “Such an agreement should not just address all types of trade barriers and promotethe standardisation of rules in important business areas. It should also eliminate existingbarriers to investment and market entry. The gains in efficiency resulting from this change wouldhelp both our customers and companies around the world.”
