Around the world in 80 years
The logistics services provider LAM, founded in 1944, took the next big step in April by establishing national subsidiaries in three East Asian markets. Johan Vermeiren and Damiano Turriziani, the directors in charge of the new businesses in China, Hong Kong and Thailand, told ITJ editor Andreas Haug about their motivation and perspectives.
Where in Asia is Lam mainly present today, gentlemen?
Lam, which is now in its 80th anniversary year, is becoming a global shipping and logistics group today, with a presence in North America, Western Europe, the Mediterranean region, the Caucasus and Central Asia, India and Southern Africa. Recently we also expanded into Thailand and China, including Hong Kong.
Congratulations on this development! Which modes of transport and logistics fields does Lam mainly operate in?
For our forwarding business we make use of a balanced mix between air and sea freight. We’re also expanding our ISO tank activities and liner services. In Asia we’re heavily involved in project shipments coming into the region.
What does this step represent for Lam’s business worldwide? And how has this evolved since the end of the outbreak of Covid-19?
Lam has experienced significant evolution in its global business since the pandemic ended. That extraordinary situation highlighted the importance of robust and flexible supply chains, which led us to expand our presence in key regions, including Asia.
We adapted by increasing our digital capabilities and enhancing our logistics infrastructure to better manage disruption. Our entry into China, Hong Kong and Thailand represents a strategic move to strengthen our foothold in Asia and ensure that we can meet growing demand for reliable and efficient solutions in the region.
In which industries are your regional clients mainly active?
Our Asian customers are mainly active in the fashion and agriculture industries, as well as in other general cargo segments. Our project cargo customers, in turn, are mainly involved in the heavy equipment and infrastructure sectors.
Our offices in Asia focus on supporting our customers that we usually serve from our other Lam offices worldwide, led by our centres in Turkey.
What risks and opportunities arise for your company’s business in and with this region, especially in the face of the current multi-crisis?
The crises in the greater Red Sea region and in Russia and Ukraine have had, and still have, a substantial impact on our activities in Asia. They’ve resulted in regionalisation once more being pushed over globalisation in the trading world. Lam Asean is therefore automatically experiencing more demand for intra-Asian and Asia-Pacific solutions.
On the global freight forwarding side we’ve had to adapt quickly to new routes as well as to new market realities – just like every other player in the shipping industry has to. Mostly our long-standing and strong relations with our partners in the maritime logistics fields has enabled us to maintain the high quality of our services for our end customers.
In which Asian markets would Lam like to further expand its business?
Our initial focus is on strengthening and expanding our setup in China, Hong Kong and Thailand by adding more offices in strategic locations and by widening the scope of our services.
Lam Thailand is a joint venture with a top Thai customs broker. We also aim to widen our scope there beyond cargo and enter the fields of customs clearance solutions, free-trade zone operations and cross-border services into neighbouring markets, including those in Laos and in Cambodia.
We also aim to expand geographically in Southeast Asia, even though we haven’t got any concrete plans yet for now and it isn’t a priority. We’re excited about further plans, which may potentially be realised in 2024, to expand into Asia our ISO tank NVOCC services, operated by our subsidiary Liquid Line. If the opportunities arise we’ll also consider expanding our small liner fleet into Asia.
What do you consider to be the specific challenges in Asia?
For a new player such as Lam Asean the current market, especially in the sea freight segment, is our biggest challenge, as our local competitors work with very low margins. This also entails a low quality of service, however, which isn’t compatible with our portfolio offers. On the airfreight side we’ll probably look into investing in more solid as well as in more sustainable operational setups.