Taiwanese intra-Asia carrier TS Lines is launching another reefer route from Thailand due to growing shipments between the Southeast Asian country and China.
Beginning on 24 March 2020, the Thailand Reefer Express (TRX) service loop will be Hong Kong, Nansha, Shekou, Bangkok and Laem Chabang. TS Lines will deploy two 1,100TEU vessels to the TRX service and each vessel can carry 250 x 40-foot reefer boxes.
TRX is TS Lines’ eighth service that calls at Thailand. With a turnaround time of four days, the service claims to offer the fastest connection between Thailand and China.
TS Lines’ general manager, Tu Honglin, said that while container shipments between China and Europe in February were hit by the post-Lunar New Year lull and the Covid-19 outbreak, shipments between China and Southeast Asia went up by 3% year-on-year.
Thailand exports a significant volume of rice and fruit to China. The Southeast Asian country also imports grapes and tangerines from China, resulting in a healthy, two-way, demand for reefer transportation.
On the other hand, with some manufacturing shifting to Thailand, the country imports a good amount of intermediate products from China to produce automobiles and garments, among other things.
Container movements in China are gradually returning to pre-Covid-19 levels with the resumption of port, railway and truck operations.
Last week, TS Lines launched two new services between China and the Philippines to ride on rising exports of finished goods from the latter country.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
