The last decade has seen significant changes in logistics in Chile. Despite the country being more economically advanced than most South American nations, it was not until the mid-1990s that the logistics concept appeared in Chile, and primarily focused on warehousing services. According to a number of Santiago-based 3PLs, total supply chain management (SCM) - including distribution, inventory control and other value-added services - is only about two years old there. Until recently, the demand for these services in Chile was principally in industrial and consumer goods imports. Containerised exports from the country mainly comprise fruit and other refrigerated cargoes with special handling requirements, and 3PLs' penetration in this business is low (see 'Securing the cold chain', CI May 2004, pp54-55). This has not deterred some major global 3PLs from continuing to target large exporters' cargoes. Indeed, several have succeeded, particularly in wine exports, originating in central Chile and western Argentina (in and around Mendoza, near the Chilean border).
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