In today's increasingly transparent information, "whether the commercial space of the freight forwarding industry will be squeezed or even die" is a topic that everyone has been paying attention to. Today's news is generally mixed, making some people excited and some people worried.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Maersk's retaliatory punishment for freight forwarders? </h1>
It is reported that in order to attract more large shippers, Maersk will announce that it will only handle direct shippers' cargo from November 1, thereby reducing the participation of freight forwarders in their shipping service business.
Maersk has established a single platform that only opens the company's shipping services, making it easy for cargo owners to book cabins directly on the platform and providing a "door-to-door" service. They claim this will simplify shipping and provide greater supply chain visibility and transparency for beneficial cargo owners (BCOs).
However, it is reported that on the route from Asia to Europe, the freight forwarder collects a contract price of about $4,000/FEU, which is then resold to customers at $20,000/FEU. There is a saying in the industry that Maersk is retaliatory punishment for freight forwarders.
"This means that Maersk lost $16,000, so the company wants to punish freight forwarders," claimed one industry veteran.
Will the actions of industry giants like Maersk lead other companies in their shipping alliances, as well as other carriers in the shipping industry, to act accordingly? Overall, this is a wind direction that will deeply worry freight forwarders.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="66" can > shipping company kick the freight forwarder out completely? </h1>
However, freight forwarding companies also undertake another important task - space resource coordination, a significant example is that freight forwarders can provide LCL services for cargo owners and make rational use of space resources. At present, well-known international freight forwarding companies, including Kuehne + Nagel, also provide cargo portfolio services to shipping companies to a large extent.
In response to this, Maersk said: "Freight forwarders have been, and will continue to be, one of the largest customer groups for our vessel transport. However, Maersk added that they want to improve the reliability of their supply chains under "abnormal market conditions and balance supply and demand in the current market." ”
Due to the current market conditions, "we have informed some customers that we will not be able to meet all of their expectations, especially on specific routes, such as Asia to Europe and Asia to North America, where we have seen unprecedented congestion and disruptions." "However, they can still operate on more than 40 other available trade routes."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="67" > shipping companies and freight forwarders, cargo owners or become the biggest winners</h1>
In response to Maersk's move, James Hookham of the Global Shippers Forum (GSF) believes that some shippers will be winners, and he believes Maersk may launch a new trading platform to develop its integrated approach to supply chain.
"This phenomenon is already foreshadowing," he explains. "With the development of trading platforms, it has always been possible that shipping companies will provide freight capacity directly to shippers." But the question is whether some shippers are willing to transact directly with shipping lines. Hookham said: "We have always had the option of dealing directly with shipping lines, but shippers prefer personalized service. ”
Maersk can offer door-to-door prices, which is very exciting news for large shippers, but smaller shippers may feel like they will be "left behind".
Because freight forwarders play a great role in negotiating prices with shipping companies and providing them with LCL services. In addition to the bargaining power with the shipping company, the more detailed service provided by the freight forwarder is also impossible for the shipping company to do at present.
Maersk's move is mainly hit by the "second-tier dealer", the freight forwarder industry will not disappear under this pressure, disappear is even the service of the freight forwarder.
Hookham also warned: "Regulators need to play a role in a timely manner because we don't want shipping companies to be the Facebook or Amazon of the transport industry, which is a wake-up call to the EU." Hookham believes that sharing business-sensitive information, such as retailers' forecast sales data, should not be part of this initiative.
In fact, after a number of related acquisitions and investments in July 2019, Maersk finally set the development goal of the inland transport business and provided full-chain services to shippers.
At the time, Maersk CEO Søren Skou said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he hoped that in about two years, the company's inland and maritime transportation revenue would account for nearly 50%. Some experts said that providing full-chain services directly to shippers instead of traditional freight forwarders is a way for large shipping companies to achieve value-added.
According to Shrewr, "Maersk is transforming to provide integrated end-to-end solutions to its customers' supply chains. While driving our ocean freight business in line with market growth, we will accelerate the rapid growth of our non-ocean business. ”