Panalpina has added 26 new direct Less than Container Load (LCL) services in Asia. The services took just one month to implement and further expand the company's vast global LCL network. Each service is based on scheduled weekly sailings, with many sailing two or even three times a week. All are designed to give customers a consistent and reliable service that supports their supply chain planning.

Panalpina continues to develop its global LCL network to meet growing demand for cost saving alternatives to air freight. Central to the company's most recent expansions are its strategic LCL hubs in Singapore and Busan, South Korea. The new additions take its total services at each port to 125 and 75 respectively.

These new services are part of an on-going effort to constantly upgrade and develop our LCL network, says Clas Thorell, Panalpina's global head of Ocean Freight LCL. Our strategically placed hubs combined with our vast service network increases access to both growing and traditional markets, enabling our customers to capitalize on the existing potential, especially in Asia Pacific.

The main aim of Panalpina's new services is to give customers more flexibility and supply chain planning control, particularly on key strategic point pairs. The company now offers three sailings per week on multiple point pairs, including from Hong Kong to Singapore, Shanghai to Busan and Singapore to Hamburg.

We provide the highest level of schedule integrity and give customers access to more markets with more departures, adds Tomas Hammar, regional head of Ocean Freight LCL Asia Pacific at Panalpina. It's a very attractive offering that ensures freight moves as planned.

The LCL shipments that move through Panalpina's Singapore and Busan hubs are predominantly from the high-tech, consumer and retail, fashion and automotive industries. The well-established hubs are located within the free trade zones of each port, minimizing connection time between container freight station and vessel. They handle consolidation and trans-shipment cargo.

Singapore and Busan are the second and fifth largest ports in the world respectively, and are central to many of Asia's key trade lanes. Both are natural transhipment ports. Singapore is widely considered the last port of call in Asia, before sailing on the Far East Westbound, Middle East or South America trade lanes, while Busan is the last port of call for many carriers before sailing over the Pacific to North or South America.