German Chemical Logistics Partnership

The German Chemical Industry Association (Verband der Chemischen Industrie e.V., or VCI) and DACHSER Chem Logistics have extended their purchasing partnership in logistics ahead of time by five years. Johann-Peter Nickel, Executive Director at VCI, and Michael Kriegel, Department Head DACHSER Chem Logistics, signed the agreement at Dachser’s Head Office in Kempten.

VCI and Dachser established their purchasing partnership for European groupage logistics back in 2009. As the chemical industry became more and more international, in 2015 the partnership was expanded to include air and sea freight transports. With some 1,900 member companies employing a total of almost 550,000 people in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry and related economic sectors, VCI one of the Germany’s three largest industry associations.

“Dachser is a competent partner for our member companies, one that can handle their European logistics safely with uniform quality standards using its own network while also supplying the intercontinental markets from a single source,” Nickel says in describing the long-standing partnership. Gisa Omlor, who is in charge of the purchasing partnership at VCI, adds: “With some sensitive products and numerous special legal regulations, the chemical industry is very demanding, especially when it comes to logistics. Having a long-standing partner that has the requisite expertise and commitment as well as the ability to communicate with German SMEs as an equal provides crucial added value and a competitive edge.”

Strong partners

The energy crisis and the current state of the global economy present the chemical industry with enormous challenges, particularly in Germany. “That’s why our members need a reliable logistics partner capable of ensuring a secure, resilient supply chain—now more than ever,” Nickel says. Both the logistics provider and the association believe their partnership has a bright future. “We greatly appreciate that VCI acknowledges our commitment to logistics for the chemical industry,” Kriegel says with regard to the early five-year extension of the contract. “DACHSER Chem Logistics is a specialized industry solution that offers all the benefits of Dachser’s global logistics network combined with a central pool of expertise specific to chemical logistics. We speak the chemical industry’s language. By investing in the expansion of our network, in digital innovations, and in climate protection, we’re also ideally placed to tackle the challenges of the future.”

Expertise across the board

In 2022, Dachser transported around four million shipments containing chemical products; 1.18 million of those shipments contained dangerous goods. Dachser dovetails the network’s standardized core groupage services—transport, contract logistics, and IT support systems—with service modules tailored to the chemical industry. The logistics provider underpins its dangerous goods expertise with its central dangerous goods management teams for overland transport and air and sea freight, plus some 250 regional dangerous goods safety advisers in its operational branches. Dachser has 23 branches in seven countries ready to handle the storage of hazardous materials. A total of 29 European branches have been evaluated for Safety and Quality Assessment for Sustainability (SQAS) certification by the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC). This means that Dachser is ideally placed to continue offering its customers in the chemical industry top-quality logistics services in the future.