25 years of ECL - a review

Logistics has a long history, as does the history of our company, which began in the field of paper and forest products logistics with the founding of Impaka Importabwicklung von Papier und Karton GmbH on 1 July 1970 as a logistics company for the Finnish paper and cardboard industry by the shareholders FINNPAP/FINNBOARD. Just three years later (January 1973), however, the company was renamed WARICO Importabwicklung von Papier und Karton GmbH for the first time, a name that was to endure for more than 20 years.

The takeover by the Finnish paper group UPM-Kymmene Corp. and renaming to UPM-Kymmene Distribution GmbH in September 1996 was followed by the sale just three years later. As a result, 49 per cent of UPM-Kymmene Corp.'s shares went to Lübecker Hafen-Gesellschaft mbH, which was to run the company under the name European Cargo Logistics GmbH from then on.

In January 2001, Lübecker Hafen-Gesellschaft acquires 100 per cent of the shares and takes over European Cargo Logistics GmbH. Just three years later, it establishes another branch in Rostock (next to the then headquarters in Lübeck in Karlstraße) and expands the logistics activities of UPM-Kymmene Sales GmbH. The company's 10th anniversary in 2009 is followed by the opening of the subsidiary OOO ECL Rus in St. Petersburg in November 2015. In the meantime, both the branch in Rostock and the subsidiary in St. Petersburg have been closed due to the challenging global political and economic situation.

So it was 54 years ago that the paper and forest products logistics division, which is still so important to European Cargo Logistics GmbH today, got its start. 29 years later, exactly 25 years ago, European Cargo Logistics GmbH was founded - the starting signal for an eventful company history, which will reach its provisional climax with the company's 25th anniversary on 1 July.

We now organise up to 300 transports a day in the areas of general forwarding and intermodal transport throughout Europe, connecting the European south with the Scandinavian north. We attach great importance to the area of "green logistics". With our intermodal "One-Stop-Shop" network in particular, we save hundreds of tonnes of CO2 equivalents every day compared to equivalent road transport and thus contribute to a more environmentally friendly (transport) world.

We look forward to continuing to be an important part of the logistics industry and raise our glasses to the next 25 years!