DUBAI: The Rhenus Group, a global freight forwarder, has expanded into the Middle East with the establishment of a local subsidiary in Dubai. The new business will operate as Rhenus Group logistics Gulf DWC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rhenus Group offering air and sea freight handling and providing customs clearance for imports and exports.
Project cargoes, warehousing and road transportation across the GCC will also be among the services offered, according to a release. “By establishing a new national company with its own management structures, it’s possible to develop new transport routes and expand our spectrum of products,” said Gerrit Kloezeman, managing director at Rhenus Logistics Gulf DWC.
The new business has been established in Dubai Logistics City, one of six clusters in the Dubai World Central free trade zone, located between Al Maktoum International Airport, and Port of Jebel Ali. Once the final stage of the expansion has been completed at the airport, the facility is aiming to handle 16m tonnes of freight and 220m passengers every year, effectively trebling Dubai’s cargo handling capacity.
“We’ll particularly focus on import business at our company. Our conditions for air and sea freight are very attractive, particularly to Dubai; and we’ll also enable other business units to obtain a foothold in the market here,” Kloezeman added. The services are provided for the whole of the UAE but plans are already underway to expand further into other Middle East logistics markets. “We’ve been able to expand our freight forwarding business to include Doha in Qatar earlier than planned because of the high level of demand,” Kloezeman said.
