Uptrend in outbound volume from China may continue
* B777 starts servicing Shanghai-Memphis routes (Adds details, background)
By Fang Yan and Jacqueline Wong
SHANGHAI, Jan 14 (Reuters) - FedEx Corp's (
FDX ) express delivery arm may see the uptrend in its outbound volume from China continue this year along with the country's improving trade situation, a senior executive said on Thursday.
FedEx Express and its rivals were affected by the global economic downturn and a rare decline of China's exports for the most part of 2009, but a recovery has taken root since the middle of last year.
"Our volume is closely related with the import and export numbers. So as long as the market is booming and we are providing good service to our customers, we will be benefitting from this," Eddy Chan, the firm's China chief, told Reuters on the sidelines of a company event.
"We are confident the export market here will be improving," Chan said.
China's exports in December leapt 17.7 percent from a year earlier, dwarfing the 4.0 percent forecast by economists and breaking a 13-month streak of year-on-year declines, official data showed.
FedEx Express is competing firecely with United Parcel Service (
UPS ) and Deutsche Post's (
DPSTF ) express service unit to expand its footprint in China where rising global trade with the Asian country drives demand for freight and logistics services.
The first of its new B777 freighters started service for its Shanghai-Memphis route earlier this month. The number of the Boeing (<SPAN fmr-param-symbol="BA" fmr-attach-component="fmr.qnr.components.snapshot.Mini">
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Quotes delayed at least 15 minutes. ) has also moved its Asia-Pacific hub to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, with a capacity to sort up to 35,000 parcels per hour.
UPS announced plans in May 2008 to relocate its air hub in the Philipines to China's Shenzhen, near Guangzhou. It also operates a hub in Shanghai. (Reporting by Fang Yan and Jacqueline Wong)