Page 53 - Export and Trade

Sea Freight

Earlier this year Maersk entered a partnership with FKDLQ LQWHJUDWRUV ´ FODLPHG -HQV 5RHPHU DW ),$7$ V
Alibaba, the world's largest e-commerce platform, recent annual Congress in Kuala Lumpur.
which, through its shipping platform One Touch, is The FIATA Sea Working Group chairman said that
booking space for its suppliers on Maersk container more often forwarders are not acting as agents but as
ships. Hot on the heels of the world's largest shipping principals.
line, major competitor CMA CGM has also linked up with “By using their own Bills of Lading, they often act as
Alibaba. carrier. In the process they develop networks of owned
The forwarders' concerns that these guys were out to RI¿FHV DQG DJHQWV WR EHFRPH WKH UHDO LQWHJUDWRU RI
PDNH WKH PLGGOH PDQ UHGXQGDQW ZHUH FRQ¿UPHG E\ WKH supply chain logistics that some shipping lines desire to
market. Xeneta, the ocean freight benchmarking and become.”
intelligence software platform, saw this as a “potential He said the challenge for freight forwarders was to
game-changer in trade because online booking would LGHQWLI\ DQG HI¿FLHQWO\ XWLOLVH WKH KXJH DPRXQWV RI VXSSO\
basically bypass freight forwarding”. chain data they already have.
One Touch offers freight booking, forwarding,
clearance, and logistics services. As Xeneta observes, The future
the relationship with the two shipping lines “serves to Here’sa‘WatchList’for2018andbeyond:
FKDQQHO D VLJQL¿FDQW YROXPH RI FDUJR WR 0DHUVN DQG &0$ • Further shipping line consolidation forecast. Who is
&*0 ± D ¿QDQFLDO SOXV IRU WKHP ZKLOH DOVR VXFNLQJ FDUJR next in the M&A line? PIL?
away from both the Ocean and THE Alliance lines”. • The reformed 'shape' of Maersk/Hamburg Süd after
$PD]RQ WRR LV XVLQJ LWV HI¿FLHQW WHFKQRORJ\ WR they conform to European and Chinese merger
transform the shipping industry by “eliminating its approval conditions that they withdraw from certain
KLVWRULF LQHI¿FLHQFLHV´ $V %ORRPEHUJ /3 UHSRUWV trades and alliances.
“the sheer size and capacity of its data collection and • After the National government's hands-off approach
analytics will allow Amazon to buy up many more WR PDULWLPH WUDQVSRUW VKLSSLQJ DQG SRUWV ZLOO WKH
containers and co-ordinate many more shipments than Labour-led Alliance develop a National Ports Strategy
any individual freight forwarder could”. as it promised “and encourage collaboration and
0RUH HI¿FLHQW ORJLVWLFV ZRXOG DOVR KHOS $PD]RQ FXW complementary operations between ports – particularly
down on various transaction costs, including booking in the North Island”? And will the new government
IHHV DQG JRYHUQPHQW ¿OLQJV $QG ¿QDOO\ SHUKDSV 'revitalise' coastalshippingasithaspromised?
more than any other company, Amazon has the ability • A “sharper more nimble” Ministry of Transport is
to create a one-stop, one-click, shipping portal that promised. “One that will be more “strategy-led, more
would vastly simplify the process for manufacturers, SURDFWLYH DQG LQÀXHQWLDO LQ WKH VHFWRU´
while making it easier for them to track shipments. • The increasing application of surcharges (see Port of
“That,” says Bloomberg, “is a considerable competitive Napier and see the latest Australian port favourite
advantage. Eventually Amazon could offer the service ZKLFK LV LQIUDVWUXFWXUH FRVWV $QRWKHU WR ZDWFK IRU LV
to any manufacturer; even those not selling on its the container booking cancellation fee which several
platforms.” lines already apply on certain routes. More widespread
Other copycat systems are moving into the market application is expected.
all with the goal of facilitating shipments by potentially
bypassing the middleman – freight forwarders et al – * Oligopoly is a market situation in which control over
and thereby reduce costs to the buyer and end the supply of a commodity is held by a small number of
consumer. SURGXFHUV HDFK RI ZKRP LV DEOH WR LQÀXHQFH SULFHV DQG
“But we are more than mere booking agents,” argue thus directly affect the position of competitors.
forwarders, who point to their customer service role as
all encompassing – that it includes negotiating the best
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Export: 0508 222 444
well as processing all the myriad documentation plus
Import:0508333666
solving problems such as container delays. www.hamburgsud-line.com
“It is the freight forwarders that are the true supply
NZ Export & Trade Handbook 2018 51