OREANDA-NEWS. DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL Group, has entered into an initial three-year Global Freight Forwarding agreement with Ambatovy. Ambatovy is a joint venture between Sherritt International Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation and Korea Resources Corporation and a large-tonnage, long-life nickel and cobalt mining enterprise, which at full capacity will produce 60,000 tonnes of refined nickel, 5,600 tonnes of refined cobalt and 210,000 tonnes of ammonium sulphate fertilizer annually.

This agreement was secured and will be managed by DHL's Industrial Projects team which handles very large break-bulk and complex project logistics. The agreement encompasses two contracts where DHL will provide on-shore and off-shore services. For the on-shore contract, DHL is responsible for providing import customs clearance for airfreight shipments of mining spare parts into Madagascar, with delivery to the Ambatovy mine site from Antananarivo to Moramanga and to the plant at Toamasina through daily shuttle services.

For off-shore services, DHL will provide international air and ocean freight for importation of mining equipment to support Ambatovy's nickel, cobalt and ammonium sulphate production, consolidated at key DHL hubs in the US (Houston), Canada (Montreal), Europe (Antwerpen), Africa (Johannesburg) and China (Shanghai). The agreement will enable Ambatovy to benefit from the DHL Material Management System (MMS), an integrated in-house information management system that enables sharing of information and also controls business processes across various organizational borders. With the MMS, Ambatovy will have real time visibility of its shipments during the move.

"This agreement is especially meaningful as it enables DHL to help Ambatovy manage its supply chain in order to sustain its operations in Madagascar. Our partnership will enable Ambatovy to tap into our global expertise in project forwarding, and extensive network spanning over 220 countries and territories - enabling us to operate efficiently even in challenging and remote locations, and more importantly, facilitate global trade flows and the development of infrastructure globally," said Nikola Hagleitner, CEO of Industrial Projects, DHL Global Forwarding.