PML Seafrigo Further Exploring and Investing in Asian Markets

At last month’s Fruit Logistica 2024 in Berlin, Produce Report had the opportunity to interview PML Seafrigo, a globally renowned provider of fresh food supply chain services formed through the acquisition last year of British freight forwarder Perishable Movements Limited by French logistics group Seafrigo.

Over the past decade, the company now known as PML Seafrigo has been expanding its business scope across Asia, encompassing mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The company is also planning to construct warehouse facilities in Vietnam to further invest in and develop Asian markets. Amid the current Chilean sugar plum season, transportation of the fruit between Chile and China, spanning a distance of nearly 20,000 kilometers, typically necessitates transit through a third country. In this regard, PML Seafrigo has used its London headquarters as a pivotal transit hub to successfully ship 40 metric tons of Chilean sugar plums to Shenzhen.

The ongoing crisis in the Red Sea has significantly impacted shipping routes between Asia and Europe, resulting in higher shipping costs and a surge in demand for air transportation. According to JPMorgan, approximately 30% of global container trade passes through the Suez Canal and prices for routes between Asia and Europe have increased by nearly fivefold as a result of the Red Sea crisis. This has spurred PML Seafrigo to actively pursue alternative solutions such as air transportation, while striving to keep prices competitive.

Prior to the merger of the two companies in July 2023, Seafrigo had 47 years of industry experience and stood as a prominent figure in the temperature-controlled logistics sector. Meanwhile, PML had established itself as a key transporter of perishable goods via air, land and sea with over 20 years of operational history.

Currently, the company has established warehouse facilities in locations including Heathrow Airport, Kent and Spalding in the United Kingdom. The warehouse at Heathrow Airport covers approximately 6,000 square meters and is equipped with vacuum coolers, blast chillers and freezer facilities. In addition to refrigeration facilities, a range of services including pallet handling, metal detection, labeling, packaging and transfer are also available. According to PML Seafrigo, the company aims to double its warehouse space by 2027 to reach a total of between 14,000 and 18,600 square meters.

Images: © 2024 Produce Report (main image), PML Seafrigo (body image)

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article.