Japanese logistics firms move on India

Major Japanese logistics companies are seeking to expand in India as their compatriot manufacturers increasingly set up operations there, reported Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Hitachi Transport System bought all shares in Flyjac Logistics this month for more than $56.08 million. The Indian trucking company has 770 employees and 25 sales bases nationwide, generating $81.87 million in sales for the year ended March 2009.

A specialist in freight forwarding, it relies on exports and imports to and from the US and Europe for 70 percent of its sales.

Hitachi Transport will seek to raise the Indian unit's sales to more than $112.16 million in fiscal 2011 by winning orders from Japanese companies.

Sankyu is preparing to establish a wholly owned Indian subsidiary in September. The plan is to create global logistics networks that bypass Japan, cooperating with about 40 group firms in such places as Southeast Asia, China and the US.

Nippon Express, which entered India in the spring of 2007, is building its sixth warehouse there. This large facility in the state of Rajasthan will come onstream in July, serving about 20 Japanese companies that are expected to set up shop in a nearby industrial park.

Mitsui OSK Lines has launched a comprehensive service shipping automobiles from India by sea.

India was home to 627 Japanese companies as of last October, an increase of 189 from January 2008, according to the Japanese Embassy there.

(Source: Cargo News Asia)