Portugal could be a “much bigger gateway” than it is today for the DHL business, according to Dinheiro Vivo, DHL Express CEO John Pearson, on the sidelines of the 2022 Atlas of Trade Growth presentation in Brussels, noting that there are business opportunities in the country. The largest distribution and logistics group in the world. However, the group has been trying “for years” to set up a new logistics station in Lisbon, with no result in sight.
“We have been trying for many years with the Afghan National Army and the airport authorities to create a new infrastructure, and I think we are on the verge of achieving that. Our aircraft,” he asserts. DHL has grown “very fast” and has “a very healthy business, with a very high market share” in Portugal, with good prospects “especially in the consumer sector”, and is likely to create “more terminals and jobs”, according to Pearson.
“In Lisbon, there have been great difficulties in investing about 50 million euros in infrastructure that allows other types of responses to the needs of Portuguese exporters and importers,” confirms DHL Express Portugal, José Antonio Reyes.
The dispute revolves around the expansion of DHL Express Portugal to improve operating conditions in Lisbon. “This is a project on which we have been working for more than eight years, but for various reasons, which are completely beyond our borders, has not yet been realized,” the director regrets.
In 2018, DHL announced that it had reached an agreement with ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal to build a new fast charging terminal in Lisbon. About a year later, she was still waiting for the license from the Lisbon City Council. In 2022, the company’s ambition was not realized.
Despite this limitation in the capital, José Antonio Reyes asserts that the country remains a “strategic location for the promotion of international trade and a strategic geography for the group”. Although not identified, the Director-General confirmed that a “strengthening of operations” at the air cargo terminal in Porto was also scheduled.
Currently, DHL has ten operational centers in Portugal, from north to south and islands, as well as two private stores (one in Lisbon and the other in Porto). There are 400 partner stores in the service point network with International Express. “The goal is to continue expanding our network,” says the director.
As for DHL air cargo transportation through Portugal, there is a “dedicated daily flight from Humberto Delgado Airport, in Lisbon, and two daily flights from Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, in Maia, also frequently counted on additional flights”. These are only cargo flights and “they were meeting high demand”, therefore, according to the director, the investment in the Portuguese operation is justified for the company.
José Antonio Reyes recalls that in 2021 “the group reached a new historical peak”. In Portugal, the volume of parcel traffic with origin and destination in the country amounted to “more than 25 thousand tons” handled by DHL. There was “a 25% increase in the volume of orders compared to 2020 in terms of imports and a 13% increase in shipments originating in Portugal”. Based on this data, the director says there has been a “strong increase” in the volume of time-bound international orders, “largely due to cross-border e-commerce.” The official says the trend is for growth in 2022 and 2023, despite the war in Ukraine.
As for the financial results, Jose Antonio Reyes does not detail the local data, but states that despite the economic uncertainty, the group recorded 24 billion euros in revenue at the end of the second quarter of the year, with the Express region achieving “significant revenue growth” In the range of 17.5% to seven billion euros.
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