UPS Express Freight Service Expands Into Nicaragua and Honduras

Global logistics provider responds to Central American near-sourcing trends

AtlantaMay 8, 2012 – Global logistics provider UPS expanded its UPS Express Freight service into Nicaragua and Honduras,  two emerging economies that count the United States as their No. 1 trading partner.

“Trade between these two countries and the U.S. has grown at a remarkable rate in recent years,” said Scott Aubuchon, Director of International Air Freight, UPS. “U.S. imports from Nicaragua have been growing at a rate of 21 percent per year over the last two decades—10 times faster than the latest IMF GDP growth forecast of the U.S. economy for 2012.”

The expansion into Nicaragua and Honduras will give customers in these two countries access to UPS’s broad network and connect them to other major trading cities in 27 countries, including those in Asia and Europe.  UPS Express Freight is part of UPS’s broad portfolio of air freight services, which include North American and international air freight as well as UPS Express Critical services for time-critical freight shipment needs across all modes of transportation. The UPS air freight portfolio also includes a range of value-added services from customs brokerage to visibility solutions.  

“The growth we began to see after the 2006 Dominican Republic-Central America-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) is now accelerating with the recent trends in near-sourcing,” Aubuchon continued. “With well-established logistics operations in both Nicaragua and Honduras and as a world leader in international air freight, UPS is well positioned to address the growing import and export needs of these countries and aid in their expansion to other global markets.”

A rising presence in the automotive industry, Honduras is the third largest exporter of automobile wiring harnesses to the U.S. The country’s recent diversification of exports over the past decade from primarily agricultural goods to industrial goods has made the U.S. and Germany two of its largest export trading partners, with 65 percent of those exports bound for the U.S.  Approximately 51 percent of Honduran imports are from the U.S., followed by Guatemala and Mexico.

Approximately 58 percent of Nicaragua export commodities are shipped to the U.S., including seafood, apparel and precious metals such as gold.  Among the Latin American countries involved in CAFTA-DR, Nicaragua has become the fastest growing exporter to the U.S., while Nicaragua’s largest import partners include the U.S., Venezuela, Costa Rica and China.

“The combination of low labor costs and the geographic proximity to the U.S. market make Nicaragua and Honduras well-positioned to compete in today’s global marketplace,” said Aubuchon.  “These export factors, combined with the growing demand for U.S., European and Asian consumer goods among the young populations in these countries, position them for substantial growth over the next few years.”

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