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The China-Europe express train from Qom, Iran to Yiwu, Zhejiang Province has realized full two-way operation on the railway

At 9:00 on July 21, Iran time, a China-Europe train blew its whistle and departed from Qom, Iran, bound for Yiwu, Zhejiang, marking the realization of full two-way operation of the China-Europe train from Qom to Yiwu.

In the past, the China-Europe train from Yiwu to Anzali Port in Iran adopted multimodal transport by rail and sea. After the goods were transferred at Aktau Port in Kazakhstan and Anzali Port in Iran, they were transported by sea through the Caspian Sea. The transportation time was easily affected by factors such as the shipping capacity of the Caspian Sea and extreme weather.

The full railway transportation from Qom to Yiwu is expected to take 15 days, and the transportation time is more stable, which also lays the foundation for the normal full two-way operation of the China-Europe train from Qom, Iran to Yiwu, Zhejiang. In 2016, the Yiwu-Iran China-Europe train transportation line was opened. So far, a total of 68 trains have been operated on this line, including 54 outbound trains and 14 return trains.

DB Schenker sale: only two suitors left!

There is new progress in the sale of DB Schenker. Reuters quoted two insiders as saying that Saudi Arabian logistics group Bahri will no longer seek to acquire the German logistics company with a market value of tens of billions.

As a result, DB Schenker's suitors are left with Danish peer DSV and a financial investment group led by Luxembourg CVC Capital Partners. Analysts believe that the withdrawal of Saudi Arabia's national shipping group Bahri is likely to affect the final selling price of DB Schenker. According to Reuters, Bahri Group made the highest bid in the first round of bidding, exceeding 15 billion euros, 2 billion euros higher than the lowest bid. Saudi Bahri Group did not respond to this report.

Bahri Group's withdrawal did not actually surprise many people. 85% of the Saudi state-owned enterprise's turnover comes from crude oil transportation business, which has almost no synergy with DB Schenker's freight forwarding business. The situation of the CVC consortium is similar: in recent years, the Luxembourg-based private equity company has acquired a number of logistics service providers, the most famous of which is the Danish transportation company Scan Global. In addition, CVC has just launched a record 26 billion euro acquisition fund. If the disclosed news is true, the chances of Denmark's DSV successfully acquiring DB Schenker will increase greatly.

From the beginning, DSV was considered the most likely suitor. DSV can achieve the greatest synergy by acquiring DB Schenker and integrating its business. Of course, the cost may be to cut some jobs.

Alex Irving, an analyst at the well-known consulting firm Bernstein, believes: "DSV has the highest profit margin in the industry and can take DB Schenker to the next level. This is why we think Denmark's DSV is the hottest acquirer. Antitrust issues do not exist. Industry heavyweights Kühne + Nagel, DHL, DSV and DB Schenker have small market shares of only 5% or less."

Analysts believe that "DB Schenker is the most valuable to DSV. DSV and DB Schenker have the greatest potential for business synergy and the lowest risk of achieving integration goals.

By contrast, DB Schenker's value to other suitors is not as high as that to DSV." Therefore, with the withdrawal of the Saudi Bahri Group, the remaining competitor is CVC Capital Partners. According to the German Transport News, Deutsche Bahn will still accept the highest bidder. Previously, insiders revealed that the bid of financial investors centered on Luxembourg CVC was higher than that of DSV. It is also reported that the CVC financial consortium's bid is 14 billion euros. Who will win in the end will be decided at the end of August.