[Translate to Französisch:] How Synergy improves connections between the port of Barcelona and France
[Translate to Französisch:] In conversation with Pablo Garcia, who’s been Hutchison Logistics Synergy’s general manager for logistics since June 2019.
[Translate to Französisch:]
How did Synergy perform in 2022? What are your expectations for this year?
We could divide the year 2022 into nine months of growth and a last quarter in which we suffered a sharp contraction in the market, just like all our colleagues in the sector.
In our case, we achieved growth thanks to the consolidation of our two historic railway terminals, where we managed to increase the total number of weekly frequencies; and the fact that we started up two new terminals, which generated new volumes in fields that we hadn’t reached before.
Now we’re in a more complicated situation, due to the worldwide fall in volumes and the overall increase in train costs, but we’re confident that 2023 will be a year in which we’ll manage to maintain everything we set in motion in the previous year.
What are the specificities of the two markets that Synergy operates in, namely in Spain and France?
Synergy is an intermodal logistics operator with different container train lines, and we seek to bring Barcelona closer to the north of Spain and the South of France. We can bring the advantages of Barcelona’s port to a wider hinterland, improve transit times – by up to eleven days between Asia and the north of Europe – by offering more than 200 direct connections to markets worldwide.
That’s why we launched our first reefer train last year, so that temperature-controlled goods can also benefit from our services. We’re also a neutral logistics operator, which means that we work with all freight forwarders and shipping companies that want to work with us.
What do you have in mind for this year?
As one of the core elements of our strategy is to make our services better known in France, Sitl is an unmissable event for us, that is to say for me and Alberto Jiménez, Synergy’s delegate in France. Due to its close proximity to France Barcelona is an interesting option for all importers and exporters based in the south of our northern neighbour.
Thanks to our work we want shippers and freight forwarders in France to understand that Synergy offers them the opportunity to reduce the costs of their traffic operations and to improve transit times.
Above all, we want to offer options that go easier on the environment. We also have our own customs department, called ‘cargo solutions’, through which we can offer our customers an all-in-one solution, covering train, truck, customs and logistics services.
What can we look forward at Sitl in Paris?
We’re analysing a project to connect the port of Barcelona by train to a terminal in the South of France. At present, we offer daily services to and from France, thanks to our terminal in Noáin (Navarra), very close to the frontier, with the subsequent border-crossing carried out by truck. We intend to take advantage of the fact that the port of Barcelona offers an international railway gauge, and transfer containers directly to France.