As the in-house forwarder for the Kobe Steel Group Kobelco Logistics handles global logistics and is actively working to expand overseas into growth markets going forward. In China and India, where the Group is focusing, we have established local subsidiaries in Shanghai and Chennai, respectively.

We boast a global transport track record that extends around the world, from European and Middle Eastern countries to China and Southeast Asian nations. We tap our expertise to coordinate optimal transport attuned to the particular characteristics of the products being moved and provide comprehensive logistics solutions centered on integrated operations that extend from arranging warehousing to organizing appropriate combinations of modes of transport encompassing sea, air and inland shipping.

The cargo we transport is primarily machinery or machinery-related, such as construction machinery, plant equipment, industrial machinery, and precision equipment. We provide optimal plans in terms of efficiency and cost based on detailed surveys of the local traffic, geography, and climate. We also offer door-to-door service for both imports and exports.

Kobelco Millcon Steel Co., Ltd. (KMS) is a joint venture between Kobe Steel and Millcon Steel Public Company Limited of Thailand and operates the only plant for rolling special steel wire rod in Southeast Asia, including Thailand. Kobelco Logistics handles the integrated transport of billets used in producing wire rods at the plant from Kakogawa Works.

Even in international air transport, Kobelco Logistics leverages its unique know-how and experience. In one case, we transported a reactor head 340 centimeters wide from France to Kobe Steel’s Takasago Works. To accomplish the delivery, inland transport in Japan and overseas was done late at night, and we used cranes to load the cargo directly onto the aircraft. As for special air transport, we chartered a heavy lift helicopter otherwise known as an aerial crane for the European leg of the journey from a company outside the Kobelco Group and, working closely with the airline, successfully transported the cargo.

We transported via sea a 1,070-ton pressure reactor (31.5 × 8.1 × 7.5 meters) to Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The reactor left Takasago Works on a barge and was then loaded onto a self-propelled deck barge at the Port of Higashi-Harima using a floating crane capable of lifting 4,000 tons. Once it arrived at the customer’s dock, the reactor was transported to a specified location. There were many obstacles along this transport route, including pipe racks at the final destination with a clearance that only just allowed the load to pass through. The situation necessitated constant communication with the client and the reactor’s designer at Kobe Steel but in the end we were able to use our ingenuity to provide optimal transport services.

Workers checking the clearance with a scissor lift

Since June 2013, Kobelco Logistics has been engaged in the international transport of steel and currently moves 6,000 tons every month to Vietnam, China, and other countries. In 2017, we will begin shipping to Thailand as well. We launched container transport operations for wire rods and other rolled steel products in March 2014 and now transport 3,000 tons each month. In these operations we leverage our quality control capabilities related to machinery and the know-how and experience accumulated in domestic logistics for steel products. Going forward, we will continue to actively develop our business as we strive to improve services and establish a system with the aim of expanding our scope.

The first steelmaking-related logistics company in Japan to receive AEO certification as a customs broker

Kobelco Logistics received the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) certification as a customs broker from the Director-General of Kobe Customs on December 14, 2016. The Company is the third in the Kobe Steel Group to receive AEO certification after Shinsho Corporation as an authorized exporter and Kobelco Construction Machinery also as an authorized exporter. We are the first steelmaking-related logistics company in Japan to receive this certification.

The AEO scheme is intended to both ensure safety and smooth relations in international trade through partnership between private corporations and customs authorities. To achieve this goal, businesses are certified as being able to ensure the security of their cargo and have a compliance system in place. As an AEO, the Company can update the Nippon Automated Cargo and Port Consolidated System (NACCS)* and serve as a declaration authority, making customs services speedy.

The Company will continue to work as one to provide high-quality, high value-added logistics solutions and promote operational improvements by continually running plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycles in the exporting, customs clearance, and other fields while maintaining its in-house system for complying with laws and regulations.

*An information transmission system for efficiently handling customs procedures and related private-sector operations in international trade