UTi opens hubs in Malaysia, Vietnam

U.S.-based freight forwarder UTi Worldwide established new multimodal hubs in Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City to consolidate shipments from for short-haul air and road-feeder services. From these new hubs, UTi is rolling out three new long-haul routes for cargo movements to European and American gateways.

The reason for the new hubs, UTi said, is to take advantage of excess short-haul air capacity in the region to handle the overflow of exports, especially during peak season. “Business in the ASEAN region continues to grow, while air cargo capacity from the area has remained static,” said Mudasar Mohamed, UTi’s managing director for Singapore and Malaysia.

Two of the new routes will move consolidated cargo from Singapore and Thailand to UTi’s hubs in Frankfurt and Amsterdam, destined for locations in Europe. The third route will fly consolidated airfreight from Vietnam and Cambodia to UTi’s Chicago and Atlanta gateways.

In October it was announced that UTi will be purchased by DSV, a global transport and logistics company, for US$1.35 billion. Currently pending approvals from the proper authorities, the transaction is due to close in early 2016.