DHL Express has recorded a year-on-year 33 per cent growth in shipments in June 2022 compared with June 2021.
This was largely because of the e-commerce growth, echoing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the pace of digitalisation and the purchasing behavior of consumers.
DHL Express New Zealand and Pacific Islands managing director Mark Foy said they had seen some growth opportunities in the Fijian market particularly in the e-commerce space which they have not seen in other markets around the world.
“As lockdowns forced consumers online, businesses adapted their models and enhanced their digital presence to keep up with the demand,” he said.
“This 33 per cent surge in volume that DHL Express Fiji has experienced further highlights the growth in online shopping and demand for cross-border shipping.
“Making it critical that logistics providers remain agile to continuously adapt and respond to consumer needs.” Mr Foy said the challenges at the moment were mainly around fuel prices.
“So there will be fuel surge charge issues around cost of freight as fuel continues to go high our freight rates continue to increase.
“It’s really difficult to predict what will happen with fuel, at the moment what will happen this year is really unknown to the industry as fuel levels are at the highest peak they’ve ever been.”
He said the good news however was the ability to use e-commerce meant a large range of products.
“As e-commerce grows and grows there’s more supply, you can see different price points and you have a wider diversity of goods to choose from.
“We’ve got high demand and significantly more shipments coming through our network now compared to 2019, 2020 and 2021.”
He said they were currently looking to expand their facility in Nadi. “We do a number of shipments coming from the Pacific Islands through Nadi so we need a bigger footprint.
“So we expect to see that in the coming months and in the longer term we expect to have new and additional facilities both in Suva and the rest of the country as well.”
