Maersk pilots Shanghai as new global gateway for LCL Shipments

9 February 2024

Shanghai– Maersk, the world's leading shipping and logistics company, announces today that Maersk pilots Shanghai as its new global gateway of Less-than-Container-Load (LCL) shipments. This signifies a groundbreaking milestone in the industry for shipments from different nearby countries and areas to be consolidated and transported via Shanghai to the rest of the world. This development comes as a direct result of recently relaxed local restrictions, enabling Shanghai to play its role as a LCL global gateway to serve for international consolidation for the very first time. This decision also opens up new opportunities to further solidify Shanghai's position as a vital hub in global trade.

Previously LCL cargos in China were predominantly transited through other traditional gateways, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, or Tanjung Pelepas. With this transformative development, Maersk has taken the initiative to pilot the new process and develop new route combinations, becoming the first company to utilize Shanghai as its LCL strategic global gateway.

We are very excited to activate Shanghai as our global gateway for Maersk LCL business. It will enable us to elevate the level of service we offer to our global customers, with improved sailing frequency, even-higher reliability, more flexibility, and better cost effectiveness.

Gary Yang

Global Head of LCL and Insurance Products, A.P. Moller-Maersk

To bolster the service coverage of the Shanghai gateway, Maersk is further expanding its LCL global consolidation network. This expansion entails the introduction of over 50 new trade lanes directly connecting to and from Shanghai, resulting in over 200 direct LCL routes facilitated through the Shanghai port.

Comparing to other traditional gateways, the Shanghai gateway will greatly benefit Maersk’s global LCL network, especially for export and import operations within the Asia Pacific region, offering improved connectivity, shortened transit time, lowered cost and improved logistics efficiency. It’s our commitment to connect and simplify customers’ supply chain.

Jay Zhang

Head of LCL Product, Maersk Greater China Area

China is the largest origin for Maersk’s LCL business. Considering current dynamics, the new global gateway in Shanghai will enable Maersk to offer better options for customers and bring potential for further business expansion. Moreover, with continuous growth of China's export, especially cross-border e-commerce business, coupled with its strong position as a global trade powerhouse, there is still significant room for development and increased demand in Chinese LCL sector.