Thomas Russell
SAO PAULO, Brazil — Third-party logistics specialist Globe Express Services has opened its first South American office here.


Five staff members handle a variety of sales, operations and administrative tasks.

Brazil is largely known for exports of commodities, but also produces a variety of finished goods, including foot-wear, apparel and furniture. Furniture exports to the United States from Brazil totaled $482.4 million in 2012, up 9% from 2004 and enough to make Brazil the ninth-largest foreign source country.

“For a lot of furniture importers, Brazil continues to be a very strong source,” said Bill Smith, Globe’s logistics and marketing manager. “It just makes sense strategically to import from that part of the world. You can get things from there that you can’t get from China.”

As a third-party logistics provider, Globe also expects to help companies manage the flow of shipments into Brazil.

“Brazil is the world’s seventh- largest consumer market,” said Tony Bikhazi, Globe’s president of North and South America. “For years, we have serviced this important region through trusted agent partners, but the time has come for Globe to make its own way. The potential for both imports and exports is tremendous, with the U.S. standing as Brazil’s top trading partner on both fronts.”

Based in Charlotte, N.C., the company also has 16 offices in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.