Interview with
Mr. Julian Adamez Soto
Logistics Manager
First of all Julian, when did you start your career in shipping and logistics?
Bo, I started my Logistics career in Asercomex in 1997. I went into the practice in March 1997 and have been there until today, so Asercomex isl my entire work life. I have been proud to bepart of this company from (almost) the beginning.
Could you tell our readers a bit about the history of Asercomex?
Asercomex was founded in August of 1996. This year is our 25th anniversary, so it is a special year for us. Our CEO and owner, Ignacio San Millán Valdivielso opened Asercomex as a custom broker agency. One year later, the Logistics Department was added to develop the forwarding services. Since its founding, Asercomex has grownup so much in terms of its services. Today, we can offer our clients full service, door-to-door into the logistics flow. Actually, we have the AEO authorisation that, as you know,is actually very important mainly for custom purposes, and as our company has our own customs department, we can give the best custom services in our country. We also have IATA authorisation for air shipments, and for sea freight we have a strong relationship with every shipping line directly. For road transport we count on a strong network with transport companies. Since these companies have worked with us for a very long time, we have full confidence in them, and we can do a capillary distribution in our country and Europe.
Spain has several ports. Could you elaborate for our readers about the most used ports for project cargo but perhaps also tell us about ports that are not so “famous” but may give better service than the well-known ones?
Bo, as most people are aware, the most famous seaports located in Spain like Barcelona, Valencia, Algeciras or Bilbao can be used for Project and General cargo. But as you wrote in your question, in our country there are other small seaports that can be used for project cargo. These seaports are: Santander, Gijón, Pasajes and Vigo located in the north of Spain, Tarragona (close to Barcelona seaport), and Sagunto (close to Valencia seaport) in the Mediterranean. For example, some shipping lines specialised in Project cargo, Ro/Ro services like Hoegh or Wallenius, Bahri used Santander, Pasajes, Tarragona or Sagunto, depending on the schedule service, UECC works in Vigo…… These seaports are more flexible than the big seaports and for project cargo are the best solution in my opinion.
Could you tell our readers about some of your most recent project cargoes that you have handled?
Asercomex has regular shipments of project cargo, mainly machinery and electric cars. It is true that due to our experience, we receive many inquiries for other categories from agents and clients because I think we have a recognized name within the project cargo family. Actually, we are working to get a big project for Namibia with wind turbines chartering a vessel from Spain.
How is the situation in Spain with regards to getting space and equipment currently?
Bo, the right word to describe the situation is chaotic, but it can be applied to the regular lines with containers because for Ro/Ro or project cargo for now (and we cross the fingers ? ), we are not having these issues like containers. Actually, there are many issues securing space on the vessel for containers. To give you an example, we are only finding space after closing the booking around 1 month later and many times when the departure date of the vessel is approaching, the shipping line rolls over our container, advising us only on the same date. So I don´t know when it will finish, but now our position is delicate against our clients who cannot understand why they are paying a big amount but their cargo sailed later or with delay.
Do you currently belong to any international networks? If so, is it useful to be a part of them?
Yes, actually we are part of 2 international networks. I am very happy to stay joined and use them because then, we can offer our clients a full service, door-to-door with companies that are located at our client’s destinations. These local companies know their countries better than we do and so there are fewer problems.
How would it be best for our members get in touch with you?
My mobile is +34607145068. Bo, as you know my mobile is open 24 hours. My philosophy is to attend to our clients, agents or everybody in their local time, and you can be sure that my team does the same.
By mail, our contact details for everybody are logistica@asercomex.es
This is the general mailbox of our logistics department, and these emails are read by 10 people.My direct email address is julian@asercomex.es.
Website: https://www.asercomex.es/
