News
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan’s Kinki Regional Development Bureau have conducted two trials on the transport of consolidated shipments at sea to promote exports of agricultural and other products from Hanshin ports. Small- and large-lot shipments were moved together in the trials to verify the effectiveness of packaging for small-lot shipments and whether or not they will continue to be exported constantly. Small-lot shipments are hard to export, as they do not amount to sufficient volumes alone, while large-lot shipments are exported constantly in large quantities throughout the year. It was confirmed that most products in the shipments remain sellable in terms of quality even after they are transported, leading to proving the effectiveness of consolidated carriage. At the same time, however, several challenges were identified. For example, cold chains could be broken when containers are loaded with agricultural products.
The trial transport projects were carried out on Dec. 17-28, 2021 and Jan. 14-24, 2022 on the route from a fruit and vegetable center at the Port of Sakaisenboku in Osaka by way of the Port of Osaka to Hong Kong.
