STINNES AND DEUTSCHE BAHN REPORT GOOD START FOR RAILOG VENTURE

STINNES AND DEUTSCHE BAHN REPORT GOOD START FOR RAILOG VENTURE    Germany’s Stinnes AG and Deutsche Bahn AG reported that their Railog joint venture had sales of about 150 million euro ($135 million) in first six months of operation.
   “The joint venture, which began operating on July 1, 2001, has become established in the market with its range of rail-integrated logistics services,” the two parent companies said in a statement.
   Railog GmbH targets customers who ship goods long distance primarily by rail, also use road transportation for on-carriage, and require other supplementary logistics services.
   “Combining road and rail transportation is an attractive proposition for customers if the two modes of transportation are closely coordinated with each other,” said Wulf H. Bernotat, chief executive of Stinnes.
   Railog’s customers are primarily manufacturers of “white goods” and “brown goods,” clay and tiles, steel, industrial goods, timber, pulp and paper.
   This year, Railog expects a volume of 200,000 tons.
   For IKEA, the Swedish furniture retailer, the joint venture supplies products directly to 32 German and Austrian furniture stores, as well as three national warehouses.