Kerry Logistics doubles-down on ‘One-Belt’ rail services

Kerry Logistics announced today that it has aquired a 50 percent ownership stake in Lanzhou Pacific Logistics Ltd (LPL), an intermodal brokerage company that specializes in services across China and Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia.

Hong-Kong-based Kerry will share management of LPL with the brokerage company’s other shareholder, China Railway Container Transport Company, Ltd.

This week’s acquisition is the latest in a series of buyouts and expansions undertaken by Kerry to consolidate its position along a trade route that China has spent billions of dollars developing. Since launching it’s “One Belt, One Road” U.K.-China rail services in May, Kerry has partnered with Dubai-based Globalink Logistics DWC, a freight-forwarding group with extensive operations across the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and launched a Europe-to-China less-than-containerload rail service that reaches Europe in 16 days.

With LPL’s railfreight coverage of more than 100 cities across China, Kerry will be able to offer expanded container freight stations and domestic door-to-door logistics services, while drawing more volume into its CIS and European networks.

According to William Ma, group managing director of Kerry Logistics, not only will the LPL One-Belt CIS network further strengthen the forwarder’s capability in China and Central Asia, “it will also allow us to consolidate our expertise in project logistics within our global network.”