Russian Post posted a new record in international shipping volumes from 1 November to 31 December 2016 nearly doubling the number of international shipments handled, has expanded parcel services and launched international freighter flights to China.
During the last two months of 2016, Russian Post processed 60 million international shipments with product enclosures (including import, export and transit) which is nearly twice as much as in 2015 when the postal operator handled 37.8 million shipments during the corresponding period. In December 2016 alone, the company handled more than 33 million items.
Russians traditionally exchange presents on New Year’s Eve which is the major festive event during the New Year’s holiday period that runs for the following 10 days.
The modernisation of the company’s postal logistics and joint measures with the Federal Customs Service to prepare for the peak season contributed to the successful pre-holiday period, the postal operator stated.
"For the fourth year in a row, Russian Post has been setting records in handling international shipments. Average daily volumes in December 2016 amounted to more than 1.5 million items, while in 2013 less than 50,000 items handled per day caused the famous collapse,” Russian Post CEO Dmitry Strashnov said.
“In 2016 overall, more than 225 million international shipments with product enclosures were handled, which nearly doubles the volumes in 2015 (128 million items), and is more than tenfold the figure of 2012 (21.7 million items). Export shipment volumes increased by 30% compared to 2015.”
The annual increase in shipment volumes is due to the development of e-commerce, with the traffic of international shipments being determined by seasonal fluctuations in online sales, which traditionally reach their peak just before the New Year.
To handle the growing flows of shipments, Russian Post continued modernising its logistics facilities both in Moscow and in the regions last year. In particular, it significantly increased the capacity of its logistics centre at Vnukovo Airport near Moscow with more than 1 million items currently being handled at the facility on a daily basis.
At the International Post Office "Koltsovo" in Yekaterinburg, Russian Post and Russian Customs Service of Russian Post opened an additional line for round-the-clock processing of international shipments in December last year.
At the International Post Office (MMPO) “Tolmachevo” in Novosibirsk, Russian Post installed automated sorting equipment, which increased capacity by almost 10 times from 40,000 to 380,000 shipments per day. In December 2016, the postal operator also deployed a high-speed automated sorting system at Tolmachevo Airport in Novosibirsk with the capacity to sort over 200,000 shipments weighing up to 3kg. The equipment was provided by Toshiba as part of an expanded Memorandum of Understanding between the two companies which was signed by Strashnov during the official visit of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to Japan last month.
During the visit to Japan, Russian Post also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Japan Post with the aim to expand cooperation in the field of parcel deliveries between Russia and Japan and also exchange know-how in order to increase the service quality.
The agreement addresses issues of closer interaction between the postal companies related to the development of cross-border e-commerce and international shipment volume growth.
Particular attention will be paid to the methods of transporting international shipments, including transportation between Japan and Europe using railway routes across the Russian territory. The prospects of growing cross-border deliveries also require a closer exchange of best practices in the field of e-commerce products and customer service standards.
Strashnov noted that the development of cross-border trade confronts Russian Post with the task of forming postal transport corridors linking the Asia-Pacific region and Europe: "Our country has a huge transit potential, Russia is able to provide fast and safe transportation of the growing shipment flows from the Asia-Pacific countries to Europe and back. This requires new logistics solutions and routes, there is a need for automation, new technologies – these are the issues we will jointly address within the framework of our partnership."
In the beginning of December, Russian Post launched the first domestic cargo flights from Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport with two TU-204C freighters that were acquired as part of Russian Post’s extensive logistics modernisation programme. The Tupolev freighters can carry up to 30 tonnes up to a distance of 3,800 km. In less than one month, the two freighters made 29 flights and transported 832 tonnes of mail and cargo to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Norilsk, Pevek, Anadyr, Khabarovsk, Yakutsk, Krasnoyarsk and other cities.
On 30 December, Russian Post conducted its first international cargo flight from Harbin Airport in China to Yekaterinburg with 21 tonnes of postal shipments being delivered via the TU-204C freighter.
Yesterday, Russian Post announced that the TU-204C freighter conducted its first direct flight from Shenzhen to Novosibirsk delivering 25.6 tonnes of shipments.
Meanwhile, Russian Post also expanded the geographical coverage of its “Parcel Online” service for online shops to four more Russian cities, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Irkutsk and Khabarovsk. Specifically designed for e-commerce market players who ship more than 1,000 parcels on a monthly basis, Parcel Online is now available in in eight cities.
In 2015, the service was launched for corporate customers in Moscow and expanded in April 2016 to the cities of St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk. Since Parcel Online’s launch, hundreds of large and regional internet shops have used the service.
The service takes into account regional peculiarities of the online shops. The minimal number of parcels for regional e-commerce players has been reduced to 200 parcels per month but remains at 1,000 parcels per month for the online retailers in the Moscow region. As part of the service, customers can send parcels weighing up to 5 kg at a fixed price of RUB 84 (€1.33), not including VAT, within the cities where the service is available, with Russian Post strictly keeping the delivery times. Shipments are taken on in batches at Russian Post’s automated sorting centres and are priority-handled at the sorting centres which allows them to be shipped as quickly as possible.
Since April 2016, the number of cities where Online Parcels can be delivered doubled, with orders from online stores now being delivered at fixed prices to 114 Russian cities which account, according to statistics, for 90% of the Russian e-commerce market.
Russian Post has also reduced charges for corporate clients imposed on the declared product value of parcels from 2% to 0.5% as part of Parcel Online and “Courier Online” service and from 1% to 0.5% for EMS express deliveries.
"The decision to reduce the tariffs on the declared value of parcels is the next step of Russian Post towards the market. First of all, this will create a more comfortable and favourable conditions for businesses cooperating with the post, and in a broader sense, it is about creating a favourable business climate in the field of shipping and logistics,” Sergey Malyshev, Deputy General Director Russian Post, Parcels and Express, said.
This year, a new norm in terms of parcel deliveries by road within Russia has been adopted, which fully meets the market criteria and aims to reduce the delivery times by an average of 30%, and in some areas the delivery times have decreased even more significantly.
