BLG Logistics on track for continuous growth

In Bremerhaven, BLG Automobile Logistics operates one of the biggest autoterminals in the world, handling two million vehicles per year. BLG is active with, in some cases very complex, logistics services for its clients from industry and trade in Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia.
Surya Kannoth…

In a recent move, BLG Logistics, market leader in the automotive logistics space in Europe, started loading VW Group vehicles, including Audis, on reefer vessels that call at the port of Bremerhaven on a weekly basis. The vessels deliver fruit from Latin America but return to that region empty. Now they are returning with vehicles.
In the first shipment, 180 vehicles were loaded by crane onto the vessel Star Quality, managed by the shipping company Great White Fleet. The export markets include Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
As a seaport-oriented logistics service provider, the BLG Logistics group specialises in automobile, contract and container logistics with its subsidiaries and holdings. It offers the automobile industry complete logistics processes – from the plants of the manufacturers in the country of origin to the dealers in the country of destination. The network includes automobile terminals on coasts, rivers and inland, car shipments via road, rail and waterway as well as technical services for export and import vehicles.
In Bremerhaven, BLG Automobile Logistics operates one of the biggest autoterminals in the world, handling two million vehicles per year. Around 170,000 vehicles were treated in the technical centres in Bremerhaven.
Speaking at the Bremen State press conference in December 2014, BLG chief executive Frank Dreeke said, “This year our operating earnings before taxes will come to around 37 million euros. Our sales will presumably be slightly above the previous year’s level at approx. 1.2 billion euros. For 2015, we expect a continuation of our growth course. We see the most promising prospects in the contract logistics division since that’s a very heterogeneous market with a substantial number of potential customers.”
As for the company’s recent development in the contract logistics division, Dreeke said, “We also took over Tchibo’s online business at our high-bay warehouse here in Bremen about a year ago. That doubled our order volume and we were able to generate many new jobs,” says Dreeke. Over 50 million euros in investments were necessary to operate two distribution channels from a central warehouse complex.
BLG is getting over a slump in logistics for the offshore wind energy sector. Due to changes in the energy policy course, uncertainty prevailed among potential investors so there is a shortage of new projects in the market at present. According to Dreeke, that will not change until mid-2015 at the earliest, but probably not until 2016.
In terms of automobile logistics, BLG wants to surpass the previous year’s volume of 7.75 million vehicles this year. Dreeke: “We might just barely top the eight million mark.” The company reckons with around 2.3 million vehicles in Bremerhaven, 120,000 more than in the previous year. And carmakers indicate further growth in their exports. For this reason BLG will soon invest over 20 million euros in the construction of a new parking deck. It will offer space for 6,600 cars on six levels.
In October, a new service center for maintenance and repair of railway wagons for automobile transport opened in Falkenberg, Brandenburg. BLG also offers its services to other rail companies, however. Around 16 million euros were invested in Falkenberg.
While the vertical range of services has extensively reached its limit in the automobile and container divisions and BLG is already market leader in these sectors in Europe, contract logistics offers further prospects of development. Consequently, BLG wants to significantly expand its spectrum of value added activities and get involved in additional segments. 