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WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 06/2018 (RU)

WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 06/2018 (RU)

BLG remains confident

BLG remains confident about Russia’s potential BLG Logistics has been active on the Russian market since 2008. Around ten years ago, the logistics service provider opened its first branch in St. Petersburg. Two years later, BLG entered into a strategic partnership with the Sea Port of St. Petersburg to take on port handling activities there. Initially, the logistics expert was responsible for marketing the automobile areas as well as for quality inspection. Good development in Bronka In 2017, some six years after starting up in St. Petersburg, BLG Logistics relocated its operative port activities from the city port of St. Petersburg to the newly built port of Bronka. St. Petersburg’s new deep-water port opened in January 2016. Regular line services connect Bronka with the main Northern-range ports, including the Auto-Terminal Bremerhaven run by BLG. At the beginning of 2017, BLG Logistics Automobile SPb and LLC Fenix, owner and operator of the Russian port of Bronka, signed a long-term cooperation contract for automobile handling via Bronka. It means BLG Logistics is now responsible there for port handling as LOGISTICS I n 2011, BLG Logistics added transport services to its portfolio. The next year saw the Russian automobile market boom, with some 3 million new registrations. However, uncertain political conditions in the subsequent years followed by sanctions imposed by Western countries and the collapse of the oil price led to a devaluation of the ruble, high inflation, and declining real income. The central bank reacted with two-figure interest rates, which tightened credit for companies and consumers. These developments have caused the consumer-driven automobile market to crash by more than 50 percent since 2013. In 2016, the market generated just 1.4 million vehicle registrations. This also affected BLG Logistics. Now, since the beginning of last year, the Russian automobile market has been picking up again. We want to successively expand our service portfolio in Bronka Uwe Seliger, Managing Director of BLG Automobile Logistics, Eastern Europe & Russia Business Unit well as storage of vehicles. With direct access to the bypass road as well as six berths for ocean-going ships plus direct connection to the rail network, Bronka offers ideal conditions for import and export of vehicles and other ro-ro cargo. Together with Fenix, BLG started its new business initially on a 12-hectare area with 25 truck loading and 12 WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 2018

unloading bays. Uwe Seliger, Managing Director of BLG Automobile Logistics GmbH & Co.KG, Eastern Europe & Russia Business Unit, says: “The port offers us excellent infrastructure with direct access to the Russian Federation’s road and rail network.” Covering the entire transport chain for finished vehicles BLG Logistics is also well placed in the transport field in Russia. Drawing on European quality standards and a state-of-the-art IT system, the logistics expert has attracted big names in the German and Korean automotive industry as major anchor customers for transport operations. Additionally, in April 2018, BLG took on the entire transport from Germany of a model from a German automotive company manufactured in the US. The logistics expert ‘s activities here start as soon as the vehicles arrive in Bremerhaven. BLG was awarded a doorto-door contract from there. This includes sea transport from northern Germany to Bronka as well as distribution to the dealers in St. Petersburg and Moscow. This is the first time the customer is importing vehicles via sea to Russia. For BLG Logistics, it is a further step toward establishing Bronka as an entry port for the German automotive industry. Uwe Seliger explains: “Our medium-term goal is to also ship vehicles made in Germany for the Russian market to Bronka via Bremerhaven rather than overland, as we do now.” BLG Logistics remains committed to covering the entire transport chain for complete vehicles in Russia. The company aims to establish a network similar to that in Western Europe. The plan is that BLG will take over the full chain from the factory or import port right through to the dealer. Due to the sheer size of the country, BLG considers rail and inland waterways to be the best transport forms for Russia. Photographs: BLG Logistics www.blg-logistics.com WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 2018 13 Turkish Machinery.indd 1 28.08.2018 13:35:37