Luxembourg’s new website, dedicated to the logistics sector was launched on 14th May and can be accessed via www.logistics.lu.

With its excellent connectivity to international markets, Luxembourg has established itself as an ideal platform for logistics activities with strong growth potential. The new website thereby aims to inform all stakeholders, including international companies in the field of logistics, on Luxembourg’s key assets.

The visual identity is simple, transparent and user-friendly.
Among other features, the new website features a variety of services offered, such as a simplified guide on import and export procedures, how to set up a business in Luxembourg, and a section called 'we can assist' which aims to support foreign companies with their queries.
In addition, interactive maps, downloadable brochures and video testimonials add a dynamic touch.

The Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade, Etienne Schneider, welcomes the close collaboration of the various public and private actors involved in the development and promotion of the logistics sector under the common brand "Luxembourg for Business - Proud to Promote Logistics".

 

Bettembourg, 14 September 2012 –CFL cargo and CFL Multimodal, in cooperation with the Turkish company MARS Logistics, are launching a combined shuttle train between Bettembourg (Luxembourg) and Trieste (Italy). These trains transport goods that arrive from Turkey by sea and thus connect the European and Asian continents. The first train has done a first round-trip to Trieste and back this week and is scheduled for its second run tomorrow morning.

With three round-trips per week, the train will transport mega-trailers with goods originating from various inland locations in Turkey. After arriving in Trieste via ship from the Turkish ports of Istanbul, Izmir and Mersin, the trailers continue via train and through the Bettembourg multimodal terminal to various destinations in Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, France, Germany and vice-versa. CFL Multimodal is the operator of the new shuttle train, while CFL cargo provides haulage on the German and Luxembourgish segments of the route.

From origin to final destination, each trailer will travel more than 2,500 kilometres. With about 10,000 mega-trailers scheduled to be transported during the first year, the train will significantly contribute to the reduction of road congestion. It will also enable a reduction of CO2 of 13,000 tonnes representing a reduction of 75% of CO2 emissions in comparison with the equivalent transport via road.

Upon arrival at the CFL Multimodal terminal in Bettembourg, the trailers are unloaded and the goods are delivered to the final customer. Thanks to its extensive infrastructure and the wide range of its service offering, CFL Multimodal can provide full-service logistics solutions, including cross-docking, partial shipments, grouping, warehousing and distribution on behalf of MARS Logistics.

This project is receiving funding from the European Union's funding programme Marco Polo.

Mr. Garip SAHILLIOGLU, CEO of MARS Logistics, adds: "The new train shuttle enables MARS Logistics to expand its European business. By consolidating our merchandise flows into a shuttle train from Trieste to Bettembourg, we increase the efficiency of our distribution in Europe, while at the same time reducing the CO2 emissions."

Mr. Fraenz BENOY, Managing Director of CFL Multimodal, explains: "Thanks to the ideal geographic location of the Bettembourg terminal in the heart of Europe and its 30-year experience in multimodal transport, CFL Multimodal is able to fulfil the expectations of international players, such as MARS Logistics, and to contribute to the diversification of the Luxembourg economy. This project is a perfect fit for the strategy of developing Luxembourg and the surrounding regions as a European logistics hub."

Mr. Fernand RIPPINGER, CEO of CFL cargo, states: "The aim of our development strategy is to offer our international clients a door-to-door logistics service. We are able to do this thanks to the cooperation with our subsidiaries, our sister-company CFL Multimodal and our partners in other countries and on other continents."

About MARS Logistics

MARS Logistics Group is a well-established corporate logistics company providing clients a large selection of import-export operations, road, air, sea and rail freight, customs clearance, insurance and logistics solutions, with a professional and integrated approach.
The group includes MARS Logistics International Freighting Warehousing Distribution, MARS Air and Sea Cargo and MARS Insurance companies.
Mars Logistics is proud to operate one of Turkey's biggest fleets with 1000 self-owned trailers, to be one of the top 3 rail forwarders in Turkey, and to be on the Top 10 IATA List as airfreight forwarder since 2007.
MARS Logistics, together with its sister companies, employs a professional workforce of more than 850 employees, owns a strong infrastructure and an excellent communication network, all of which enable the company to implement its full-service policy.

About CFL Multimodal

First multimodal operator in Luxembourg, CFL Multimodal offers a wide range of high-value-added logistics services: combined rail-road-sea transport, rail freight solutions, road transport solutions, distribution, warehousing and all other services of the logistics chain, including parcel services and customs clearance, as well as logistics solutions customized to fit the customer's needs.
The 340 employees in six companies, which complement each other in the areas of logistics and combined transport, share a Quality-Safety-Environment culture that enables CFL Multimodal to be an efficient and responsible player in the logistics market.
The ideal geographic position of the Bettembourg terminal at the heart of Europe positions CFL Multimodal as a central logistics hub able to provide regular transport relations to Europe's major industrial areas as well as to the ports of the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and Southern Europe, in cooperation with its rail freight sister-company CFL cargo.

About CFL cargo

CFL cargo was created by the merger of the freight department of the Luxembourg national rail company (Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois) and the internal transport department of the Luxembourg production sites of ArcelorMittal.
With 400 employees, a fleet of more than 70 locomotives and 4000 wagons, CFL cargo offers customer-oriented services, including regional or international freight transport, the rental of wagons, the formation of complete trains, the issuing of waybills and the maintenance of wagons.
Together with its subsidiaries - CFL cargo Deutschland, CFL cargo Danmark, CFL cargo Sverige, CFL Fret Services France and Ateliers de Pétange – and with sister-company CFL Multimodal, CFL cargo operates on the main European North-South and East-West routes.

Contacts

PRESS RELEASE - (05.09.2012)

On 5th September 2012, the Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade, Etienne Schneider, the mayor of the town of Dudelange, Alex Bodry, and the mayor of the municipality of Bettembourg, Laurent Zeimet, have participated at the official ceremony for the launch of the infrastructure works on the new Eurohub logistics park, formerly used by the Warehouse Services Agency (WSA).

Etienne Schneider announced that « today is an important step in the redeployment of the Eurohub South activity zone into a dedicated logistics park ».

In order to facilitate the establishment of new logistics activities, the logistics action plan of the Luxembourg government foresees to make land available to companies planning to implement a value added logistics project. For this purpose, the activity zones Eurohub Center in Contern and Eurohub South in Bettembourg/Dudelange have been designated as dedicated logistics parks. While Eurohub Center hosts foremost logistics activities related to air freight, Eurohub South will be dedicated to railway logistics.

Eurohub Center has already been operational for several years, hosting well-known international logistics service providers. Eurohub South will be an extended gateway of the main European sea ports. Indeed, Eurohub South has a direct railway connection to the main European sea ports, a direct access to the major highways and is neighboured to the container terminal, the marshalling yard as well as the rail-motorway terminal.

The first logistics halls will be built as soon as possible. 2013 will mark a crucial year in the development of this new logistics park.

The Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade works in close collaboration with the Ministry for Sustainable Development and Infrastructures as well as other competent authorities such as the National Roads and Bridges Authority in order to finish at the earliest the infrastructures and access roads to the new logistics park. A new access road will be build so as to deviate the trucks from the municipalities of Dudelange and Bettembourg. Etienne Schneider also expressed his gratitude to the two municipalities for their good collaboration since the beginning of the project. He is confident that this constructive collaboration will successfully turn the Eurohub South park into a first class logistics zone in Europe.

Roche Diagnostics could truck its sensitive cargo of diabetic test kits to Chicago, then hope the valuable medical supplies aren't stolen, damaged by weather or delayed in customs before they can get to patients in Europe. However, Roche has found a way to skip that Midwestern logistics logjam. The company is forging its own intercontinental supply chain, beginning next week, with a new direct flight each weekend from Indianapolis to Luxembourg. Millions of Roche's Accu-Chek brand electronic meters and test strips for blood samples can be kept in cool storage at Indianapolis International Airport. Sealed pallets can be directly loaded through the opened nose of a refrigerated plane. Within minutes, they'll be off on a 4,310-mile, nonstop, nine-hour hop to Europe. It means safe, secure, temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals are moved quickly to market, said Eric Martin, vice president of supply chain operations at Roche's Northeastside campus. "We used to go through Chicago. But it is a higher risk to expose the products to being handled multiple times and exposed to uncertain temperatures outdoors at the Chicago airport," he said. Since 2006, the biopharma manufacturer with plants and markets in Indiana and Germany has used less-direct weekly flights to move products between the U.S. and Europe. The company and its partners in the project will announce today that a third round-trip flight will begin Sunday to directly tie this Indianapolis-Luxembourg circuit, he said. An official with freight forwarder DB Schenker, the company arranging the flights for Roche on Cargolux planes, said the Boeing 747-400 will take off from Indianapolis at 8 a.m. every Sunday and land Sunday evening in Luxembourg. "That's in time for (local ground) distribution on Monday to take advantage of the whole week," Martin said. The plane can carry about 110 tons of freight. Roche is sending 25 tons to 40 tons each week, leaving room for other Indiana companies to ship products to a European logistics center. To local leaders in logistics and economic development and at Indianapolis International Airport, a new intercontinental cargo flight is a big deal. The Indianapolis airport actually has only a handful of true international flights each week. There are passenger flights to Canada and Mexico and cargo flights to France, Japan, Hong Kong and Mexico. "Surprisingly, of the over 180 million pounds of air cargo Indiana exported in 2010, less than 2 percent of those exports left from an Indiana airport. Almost two-thirds of Indiana's air cargo exports end up flying from Chicago's O'Hare airport," said Chris Matney, air service director for the Indianapolis airport.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20120113/BUSINESS03/201130331/Roche-takes-direct-flight-route-shipping-products-Europe?odyssey=nav|head

Roche Diagnostics Corp. is ramping up cargo shipments between the U.S. and Europe, securing a third weekly Cargolux flight at Indianapolis International Airport to ship its medical products overseas. The flight, to begin on Sunday, will be the first scheduled Cargolux flight to depart Indianapolis and fly nonstop to Europe – opening up new export capabilities from central Indiana. Currently, Cargolux Airlines International operates two inbound flights from Luxembourg to Indianapolis, each Wednesday and Friday. Boeing 747 freighters – an uncommon sight at Indianapolis – typically take on Roche’s chemical reagents and medical devices then stop in Chicago or other cities before heading back to Europe. The new flight will help Roche better synchronize its supply chain, said Thurman Walker, general manager of DB Schenker’s Indianapolis logistics center, which handles Roche’s  shipments at the airport. The goods will be loaded at the airport when Roche’s local operations are closed. But they will arrive in Europe for timelier processing. That could speed deliveries to customers there by two days, said Jim Lafayette, director of distribution operations for Roche. The outbound Boeing 747 will have room for additional cargo. “Hopefully our volume will keep growing,” said Eric Martin, head of North American supply chain at Roche.That extra aircraft capacity also could accommodate goods of other companies wanting to ship to Europe. The third Cargolux flight is a boon for the Indianapolis Airport Authority, which for years has been touting the airport as an alternative to bigger and more congested airports such as delay-prone Chicago O’Hare. Indianapolis International is the nation’s eighth largest cargo airport, although most of the cargo moves via a single company – FedEx. The Memphis carrier operates its second-largest domestic cargo hub in Indianapolis. Further diversification--Cargolux’s new flight-- helps underscore that “Indianapolis is a legitimate player” in cargo, said Christofer Matney, air service director for the airport authority. Matney travels the world pitching Indianapolis’ cargo potential, which has grown since the airport opened a new midfield passenger terminal almost four years ago. The site of the abandoned former passenger terminal is ripe for cargo operations, with direct access to the airfield. There’s more than 2 million square feet of such airfield access on the northeast corner of the airport alone for wide-body freight aircraft. That’s an amount roughly equivalent to what O’Hare has today. Indianapolis has seen a number of new international cargo flights over the last couple years. In November, FedEx won federal approval to launch an air cargo route between Indianapolis and Guadalajara, Mexico. FedEx, which employs about 4,000 people at its Indianapolis hub, also has been making regularly scheduled flights from Indianapolis to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. Two years ago, FedEx began nonstop service from Hong Kong to Indianapolis. Cargo is big business for Indianapolis International, a medium-sized airport that is more a spoke than a hub for passenger service and thus has struggled to land nonstop passenger flights to Europe. FedEx alone pays more in landing fees than all 10 passenger carriers here – about $10.4 million annually vs. $10 million for the passenger airlines. In the first nine months of 2011, FedEx shipped 1.45 billion pounds of cargo at Indianapolis International, or 724,619 tons. Cargolux began the first nonstop air cargo service here from Europe in 2006, quickly adding a second flight to serve Roche and Schenker. “Six years ago, these guys took a very bold step,” said Matney, who hopes to continue to attract additional cargo flights.

http://www.ibj.com/cargolux-adding-third-weekly-european-cargo-flight/PARAMS/article/31914