Dutch forwarding major CEVA Logistics has announced that it has launched a new weekly LCL (less-than-container load) service from Shanghai to Budapest.

CEVA, which employs 42,000 staff in 170 countries, said the new service sees the central European destination added to the LCL service, which has been expanding since the end of 2011.

The weekly service operates direct from Shanghai to Koper on Slovenia's Adriatic coast, where containers are then railed up to the Hungarian capital.

Transit times are 30 days from Shanghai to Koper and then 5-7 days to the Budapest CEVA warehouse, an ideal location to reach CEVA bases throughout Europe.

The company has eliminated additional transshipment handling costs and devanning at the first port by taking the service in-house.

"This is an end-to-end CEVA-owned solution," said CEVA global LCL chief Greg Scott.

"It starts with our own dedicated trucking network in China where we can feed into Shanghai from key cities across the country.

"And with our CEVA container freight station in Budapest, there is no external handling of cargo or any third-party warehousing," said Mr Scott.

He said customers will be able to track their boxes by using CEVA's OneView tool online and since the entire process is controlled in-house, CEVA can guarantee the highest security standards.