SEKO Logistics is set to boost its presence in China with the expansion of an existing warehouse and fulfilment centre in Shenzhen, backed by equity investor Ridgemont Equity Partners.

The revamped facility will provide cross dock and export services as well as climate- and humidity-controlled zones for fulfilment of high-value e-commerce shipments and is expected to increase SEKO’s capacity by 400 percent to 250,000 parcels a day.

Office accommodation will also be expanded as new staff are brought into the business to serve value-added freight forwarding clients, the company mentioned.

“The move will build on SEKO’s successful air and ocean freight growth to and from China, which saw a cumulative 20% increase in the last year. It will also support strong B2B demand for SEKO’s Value Added Freight Forwarding (VAFF) services. The opening of more new office locations and an employment drive also follow SEKO’s major contract wins in China in 2020,” the company said in a statement.

SEKO said its APAC head office in Hong Kong and China headquarters in Shanghai have already seen rapid growth in its China marketplace services. It now has some 300 staff serving B2B and B2C clients from its offices in Shanghai and Ningbo, as well as from collection centres in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Yiwu and Xiamen.

It has also more than doubled the capacity at its showcase omni-channel fulfilment centre in Hong Kong to over 200,000 sqft, with dedicated areas for value added freight forwarding services including ocean freight consolidation services in China, expedited ocean freight, sea/air services, air charters and origin freight management services.

The opening of its office in Hangzhou 18 months ago enabled the company to build its share of the cross-border e-commerce market from China’s Zhejiang province for both inbound and outbound shipments. It also recently opened and office in Qingdao last month.

SEKO said its ‘China Export Hub’ facilities has been driven by the acquisition of US-based forwarder and e-commerce specialist Air-City last year and its partnership with Hermes Germany in Europe.

“We are increasing our ability to help customers who want their product to be fulfilled in Hong Kong to cater to online orders in China and Asia,” said Anthony Barnes, SEKO’s chief operating officer, APAC.

“SEKO’s ability to be agile and flexible in meeting the needs of e-tailers and platform operators is also giving us opportunities to expand our business outside of China and Hong Kong.

“Ultimately, we are building a model for SEKO to vertically integrate all services, from online orders to home, or out of home deliveries,” Barnes added.