Kuehne + Nagel to exceed a million tonnes a year

FREIGHT forwarder Kuehne + Nagel (K+N) is looking to lift airfreight volumes by 500,000 tonnes a year in the next three years.

The Switzerland-based operator currently ships around 800,000 tonnes a year, and is on track to become the world’s third-largest airfreight forwarder when it reaches its target of 1.3 million.

K+N is also looking at investment opportunities in the Asia-transpacific and intra-Asia regions to further expand its network.

In 2010 air cargo increased on all routes, particularly in the traffic from and to the Asia-Pacific region. The group achieved new record levels of cargo volumes handled at almost 1 million tons, a 25 per cent rise compared to the previous year. The operational result rose by 47.2 per cent, and EBITDA to gross profit margin improved to 31.2 per cent, signifying a 6.2 per cent climb.

In other news, K+N has just acquired UK-based RH Freight, which specialises in groupage freight between continental Europe and the UK.