Shippers and providers need to partner to monitor changing market
Improving economic indicators for the US and Asia are raising optimism among transportation and logistics providers.
However, Ti’s latest Global Monthly Monitor suggests changes such as rising oil prices, rising rates and shifts in capacity will result in the need for shippers to work closely with their transportation and/or logistics providers to stay abreast of the changing market.
So far for 2012, freight activity has proved disappointing for many providers. The typical run up ahead of the Chinese New Year festivities did not materialise, perhaps because of the closeness between the December holidays and the Chinese holiday. As a result, a 14% decline in airfreight was reported by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) for the month of January. Asian ports also disappointed even though results appeared to be mixed. The Port of Singapore reported a 5.23% increase whereas the Port of Hong Kong reported an almost 6% decline in cargo.
Europe continues to teeter on a recession as the region seeks ways to fix its debt problem amid weak demand and increasing unemployment. Weak European demand has resulted in capacity cuts as well as rate increases along the Asia-Europe tradelane. Maersk recently announced a 9% cut in capacity, while increasing rates not once, but twice in a matter of three months. Other vessel carriers such as Hanjin and Mediterranean Shipping have followed suit in rate increases.
The US continues to be a bright spot as manufacturing activity expands, unemployment continues to decline and consumer confidence improves. Although airfreight remains a concern, port activity in January increased over 6%.
Finally, rising oil prices will weigh heavily on shippers and providers alike as transportation rates and fuel surcharge increases might result in a reversal of economic improvements made in recent months in the US and quite possibly exasperate an already tough situation in Europe. For some providers, the threats of bankruptcy or becoming an acquisition target will increase as oil prices climb.
Although January was disappointing for many providers, February does not look much better due to the Chinese festivities spilling over into the month. However, March looks brighter as US manufacturing continues to expand and improving Asian manufacturing picks up. Still, as the market continues to adjust, shippers and providers need to work closely together to monitor these changes and be able to react quickly and make the necessary adjustments to remain competitive.
Quelle: eyefortransport
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