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DHL UNVEILS $200 MILLION EXPANSION PLANS
 
SHANGHAI - DHL, owned by Germany's Deutsche Post, will reportedly join with Chinese partner Sinotrans would spend $200 million over five years to boost their dominance of China's booming freight market.

DHL Express is vying with rivals United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. to stake out a share of the surging Chinese express delivery market that Beijing pledged to open after joining the World Trade Organization in late 2001.

The company, which announced its expansion blueprint just days after FedEx said it would increase its own Chinese network by 100 cities over five years, has poured nearly $1 billion since 2000 into Asia.
 
With Sinotrans, it commands 37% to 38% of total express shipments in China, according to company sources.
 
DHL has said it will buy 1,200 vehicles, employ 2,100 more people, and set up 14 new branches in China, despite analysts' concerns over protectionism since a bitter public row between foreign couriers and the country's postal monopoly, which was resolved last year.

Still, DHL considers itself one step ahead because of its wide ranging 50-50 tie-up with pre-eminent local player Sinotrans. It plans to upgrade handling capacity at three of its four Chinese gateways -- Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

China is DHL's third-largest market in the Asia-Pacific region. The company currently serves 318 Chinese cities, versus FedEx's more than 200.

The Asia-Pacific now accounts for 21% of its total global revenue.

Analyst UBS Warburg recently reported that China's express mail market reached 139 million units in 2002 from 1.5 million in 1998.

DHL owns a 5% share of  Sinotrans, which debuted in Hong Kong in February.
The company launched a four-times-weekly Hong Kong-to-Shanghai air route earlier this year and has said it aims to inaugurate a Hong Kong-Guangzhou-Beijing route later this year.
 
COLUMBUS LINE, CROWLEY TO BECOME HAMBURG SUD

HAMBURG - The trade names Columbus Line and Crowley American Transport will be replaced with the globally recognized Hamburg Sud brand, effective January 1.
 
"While the Columbus Line and Crowley American Transport names "have played an important role in Hamburg Sud's growth over the past five decades, the brands have been used only in certain trades and countries," the company said in a recent statement.

"Today, with services linking South America with Europe, North America, the Mediterranean, Asia, South and West Africa and connecting Europe with the Mediterranean, India and Pakistan, as well as Australia / New Zealand and the Pacific Islands with Asia and North America, Hamburg Sud is recognized as a global organization and a leader in North/South trades," it said.

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