At the end of last year, Shanghai-based City Union Logistics, an IFLN Network and IFLN Global Projects member, handled the tricky move of the assembly frame of an oil well on behalf of one of its regular customers, a manufacturer of petrochemical equipment.

City Union handled the shipment from door to door – from the factory in Shandong in China to Vancouver in Canada. The cargo was first trucked from Shandong to the port of Shanghai, loaded onto an ocean-going vessel and then shipped to western Canada.

Although the cargo was 6.2m in length, 5.1m in width and 2.2m in height, City Union initially expected to ship the cargo as BBK. But the cost of BBK was higher than the use of a 40-foot flatrack, so that became the preferred option.

However, the plan had to change once again, explains City Union’s senior marketing specialist Leon Zhu, as capacity out of China came into such short supply in November and December, thus pushing shipping rates up to sky high levels, while a shortage of available containers also became an issue.

Thus: “We quickly adjusted the solution and shipped via breakbulk service to maintain our client’s logistics supply chain in good order,” Zhu notes.

Specialist project shipping capacity provider BBC Chartering carried the cargo on one of its large fleet of heavylift and multipurpose vessels.

City Union works regularly with its customer on this job, and its happiness with City Union’s good work on such shipments is seen in the continued custom that the forwarder receives from the more than satisfied client, Zhu notes.

2020 was a tough year for the shipping industry, Zhu observes, and things are still challenging. Nevertheless, he adds, the City Union project logistics team continues to provide optimal shipping solutions for all its various clients and partners.

City Union handles ocean-going shipping around the world, while particularly specializing in shipping from China to the US and Canada. It also offers air freight capacity on a regular Uzbekistan Airways service connecting Tashkent in Uzbekistan to China and has block train capacity on a service linking Central Asia to Russia and Europe.

Close up - cargo on low loader

 

Previous News IFLN News Archives