Lars Jensen, CEO at SeaIntelligence Consulting and Cogoport's Liam FitzPatrick discuss the hottest topics, from technology to Brexit, in the shipping Industry. <iframe class="ql-video" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P5HSeHJF6to?showinfo=0"></iframe>

Expert Connect Podcast with Lars Jensen - Ep. 1

Shipping is an important and critical part of the global supply chain. How it is managed impacts the marketability of the product, brand image, relations with buyers, and the profit margin of the exporter.
Ocean freight rate, ancillary logistics costs, and end-to-end management of the shipment from pick up to delivery at the final destination become deciding factors in successfully delivering a shipment to its final destination.
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<h3>Why is the Ocean Freight Rate Important?</h3>
Transportation costs are a vital component of the complete cost of taking the product to market. Ocean freight rate is an integral part of the aggregate transport cost.
Although an estimated ocean freight rate is built into the product manufacturing costs, given its volatile nature and impact of currency exchange rates, it keeps changing frequently. When the actual shipment is delivered at a rate higher than estimates taken into account, it reduces the profit margin of the exporter.
This is why procuring freight rate at the right time and from the right service provider is an important part of the entire global supply chain.
Till recently, to ensure that they get the best possible freight rate, exporters would initiate the freight rate enquiry, negotiations, and procurement at least a month prior to the shipping date. The more conservative shippers would start the process as soon as their sales order was approved by the buyer.
Shippers with large annual volumes have the scope to negotiate a volume rate with their freight forwarders or shipping lines, thus they can, to an extent, safeguard their business against unforeseen changes in freight and currency exchange rates.
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Unfortunately, the low volume exporters or new exporters cannot avail of contracted ocean freight rates.
<h3>What&rsquo;s Wrong with the Traditional Way of Booking Freight and Managing Shipments?</h3>
The archaic way of buying freight involved interaction and follow up with least 3 &ndash; 4 shipping lines and freight forwarders for rates. To successfully manage shipment delivery till its final destination, an exporter also had to invest time and effort coordinating with his inland transport provider (trucker), customs house agent, bank, and insurance agent.
Not only was this process tedious but it also required a dedicated resource (sometimes an entire team) to manage the complete logistics of transporting cargo from one point to another. Human errors and communication gaps between various process - service stakeholders further slowed down the process.&nbsp;
<img class="center" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.439216); font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 25px; letter-spacing: -0.02em;" src="https://prod-cogoport.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/fd6324a8675d27be6a05d8a309256687/Blog%20creative_Tech%20savy_R3-01.png" alt="Traditional Freight Booking Process" width="">
<h3>How is the Age-old Process Changing?</h3>
With technology taking over the traditional way of obtaining freight rates, getting a competitive ocean freight rate from different service providers has become easier, cost and time effective.
Advancements in technology has made it possible for exporters and importers to obtain rates within a matter of minutes from the comfort of their offices. Technology has also facilitated the current industry drive on integrating the different touch points of the global shipping process. Today, it has become possible for all the participants in the long drawn process of global shipping to connect on a single platform and perform their role in the business.
Apart from speed and process integration, the technological revolution in the freight industry has added efficiency and transparency to the entire freight booking and management process.
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<h3>How is Cogoport Simplifying Freight Booking and Shipment Management?</h3>
Being the frontrunner of the technological revolution in the Indian freight industry, Cogoport is working on eliminating the many redundancies and inefficiencies plaguing the freight booking and shipment management ecosystem.
By integrating all the stakeholders involved in the end-to-end shipping process, Cogoport is simplifying freight management and creating an industry environment that is based on trust, transparency,&nbsp;and reliability&nbsp;with speed&nbsp;enabling informed&nbsp;and faster&nbsp;decision making.
It has brought together all the touch points of an international shipping transaction. On the platform, shippers can connect with shipping lines, freight forwarders, truckers, insurance agents, and CHAs. They can obtain rate quotes, place bookings, and track the shipment till its final delivery in real time.
Knowing how time consuming follow up with the multiple stakeholders is, the platform has, to an extent, automated most of the freight management process and empowered the user to search, select vendors, place the booking and track it real time.
<img class="center" src="https://prod-cogoport.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/4ff7b2dd335da693a1cbd19415ffc8da/Blog%20creative_Tech%20savy_R3-02.png" alt="Cogoport Process" width="">
<h3>Salient Features of Booking and Managing Freight on Cogoport</h3>
1. Personalised Dashboard:&nbsp;Create&nbsp;your own integrated global logistics management dashboard to connect all the touch points in your global supply chain.
2. Instant Rates:&nbsp;Get freight rate quotes from multiple shipping lines in a few simple steps.
3. Vessel Schedules:&nbsp;Access the sailing schedules of more than 30 shipping lines in one easy click.
4. Container Tracking:&nbsp;Track your container in real time till it reaches its final destination.
5. Document Wallet:&nbsp;Get&nbsp;your personal digital space to maintain all your shipping documents.
6. Digital Invoicing:&nbsp;Receive, manage, and pay your shipping invoices digitally.
7. Analytics:&nbsp;Get access to market driven freight rate trends and your shipment stats all at one place.
8. RFQs:&nbsp;If you don&rsquo;t find spot rate for your port pair, you can raise a request for a rate quote. Cogoport will do the rest!
To better understand how Cogoport can optimise your international shipping process,&nbsp;<a href="https://cogoport.com/signup">register</a>&nbsp;on the platform and explore the features yourself. Or connect with our customer success team to get an overview of Cogoport&rsquo;s services and products. Go Digital, Go Cogoport!

Manage Exports and Get Rates easily: Cogoport

India is the world’s fastest growing economy. Indian exports of both merchandise and services have witnessed an exponential growth of 13.79% in the year 2018-19. Kudos to India! As per the current report of the Federation of Indian export organisations, the contribution of export to the country’s GDP is about 18% to 19%. Although the global factors like rise in crude oil prices, strengthening of USA Dollar and US-China trade war has affected the Indian exports.<a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/message/N4CI7UNDFE2ZM1?autoload=1&amp;app_absent=0&amp;utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog Banner WA 3.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a>Because of initiatives like Make in India where the primary goal is to brand India as a global manufacturing hub. India has managed to ride the roller coaster well. Dealing mainly in capital intensive exports, India is into exports of Petroleum products, Organic and inorganic chemicals, Electronic goods, Plastic and Linoleum.Not only this but the cabinet being lenient with the agricultural export policy, the Agri exports are estimated to grow from $37 billion to $60&nbsp;billion by the end of the year 2022. India is firmly following the mantra of Sky is the limit. Along with this, the basmati rice industry is on an expedition to have its highest ever exports in FY 2019.&nbsp;The Indian government has also equipped a rupee payment mechanism, to kick in with ease for trade with Iran, our largest importer of Basmati rice.Even the Indian pharmaceutical industry has played a crucial role in the country’s exports. It has managed to raise its exports by $11 billion in the FY 2018-19. The USA is the leading trade partner in pharmaceuticals accounting for about 1/3rd of India’s exports.India is centring on bilateral trade, with its prime focus simply on being together in an uncertain world. India has managed to sign 80 plus bilateral trade agreements.<h3 class="ql-align-justify">India’s Top 5 Markets for Exports as per the World Bank Report</h3><ul><li>United States</li><li>United Arab Emirates</li><li>Hong Kong, China</li><li>China </li><li>Singapore</li></ul><h3>India’s Top 5&nbsp;Export Products as per World Bank Data</h3><ul><li>Petroleum Oils</li><li>Diamonds</li><li>Medicaments</li><li>Art of jewellery</li><li>Semi-milled and wholly milled rice</li></ul>After marking down the highest ever exports to China this fiscal year, India is now making efforts to achieve greater market penetration in its exports.Indian export growth is essential to seize the opportunity in the global markets. Additionally, there has been an exponential growth in the Logistics sector as well.<img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-1.png" alt="" width="300px">The logistics sector, backbone of trade and commerce across the globe is likely to grow to $215 billion worth. And by adding it to the Harmonised Master list of Infrastructure India has already taken a few steps closer.

Get to Know What India Exports

This article was published in Maritime Delta
Source: <a href="https://www.maritimedelta.nl/blogdoorglinokarjadi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.maritimedelta.nl/blogdoorglinokarjadi/</a>
First of all, I would like to thank Maritime Delta for giving me the opportunity to write about my experiences so far in the Maritime Industry.
As a villager from Hoogezand-Sappemeer I came in touch with shipping as soon as I spent some time in Rotterdam. It didn&rsquo;t take long to get hooked by the City and what drives its success, soccer club Feyenoord, shipping and logistics and the hard-working people of Rotterdam. My first encouter with logistics was with warehousing and trucking; I was intrigued and wanted to be part of this world even though it wasn&rsquo;t my background. I wasn&rsquo;t going to let inexperience hold me back from adventure, so I moved on to shore sea shipping and, eventually, Deepsea where I stayed for a longer period of time.
During the years I was wondering whether this Industry should change, especially when the crisis returned in 2008. My firm, Hanjin Shipping went bankrupt and the industry knew something had to change if we were to avoid losing another carrier. We avoided bankruptcies, but we saw huge consolidations; China COSCO shipping, CMA &ndash; APL and Maersk &ndash; Hamburg Sud (where I worked).
In my time with Hamburg Sud I had awesome colleagues; it was a great carrier and offered great opportunities. However, one day I met Carmit Glik and soon thereafter Flemming Frost and I was sold on their vision of digitized and simplified shipping. In particular, I got excited by the Cogoport platform, which provides a hassle-free way to search, book and track containers. It seemed to me that this was a true innovation &ndash; one which the industry had been crying out for.
At the start of April this year I signed up as one of the first European team members and it has been a fantastic experience so far joining such a dynamically fast-growing business. The company has grown in the space of just a couple of years from handling about three units a month to now close to 10,000 units and with more than 27,000 registered users on our platform.
What drives Cogoport is a passion for the needs of SMEs and a desire to see them grow. It&rsquo;s a genuine part of our DNA. As we grow we&rsquo;re learning more every day; digitization is a new journey for the industry and it&rsquo;s full of challenges.
Shipping and logistics is an important industry and like everything else, is subject to change. Digitization means that the pressure for change is coming from the outside as much as internally. It&rsquo;s happening at a pace many people in the industry can&rsquo;t yet see. For example, a few years ago, no one saw the disruption that technology was going to bring to retailing. Our industry is only beginning to see the impact of new tools but how ready is the average freight forwarder or shipper to take advantage of the opportunities they bring?
At Cogoport we are starting to build a community with our customers and the wider shipping ecosystem to take the leap into a new digital era. Few SME&rsquo;s can make major capital investments or spend time figuring out how their business model need to develop and our platform offers an easy route to better shipping. We can help!
My name is Glino Karjadi and if you want to know more about us, we are happy to help, either in a personal meeting or at one of our network lunch meetings held across the Netherlands.
Business Development &amp; Sales
<a style="color: rgb(16, 155, 197);" href="mailto:Glino@cogoport.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glino@cogoport.com</a>
+31 6 139 21179
<a style="color: rgb(16, 155, 197);" href="https://cogoport.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.cogoport.com</a>

 Glino Karjadi: Digitalisation in Shipping

Last week was all about my speaking sessions at Intermodal Europe and the ICT &amp; Logistics event. And this week? Another speaking session! I was honored to be invited to speak at the VNO NCW Women's Network event in Rotterdam. A home game for me.<a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/message/N4CI7UNDFE2ZM1?autoload=1&amp;app_absent=0&amp;utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog Banner WA 1.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a>The Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (known as VNO-NCW) is the largest employers' organization in the Netherlands. VNO-NCW represents the common interests of Dutch business, both at home and abroad and provides a variety of services for its members. Over 160 (branch) associations are members, representing more than 185.000 enterprises. They cover almost all sectors of the economy, including more than 80% of all medium-sized companies in the Netherlands and nearly all of the larger, corporate institutions.The event’s theme was “She Inspires”. I spoke about my quest to make the freight industry efficient and transparent, how I got where I am today and the journey that took me there.The past week it was almost impossible to visit a news website and not read about Brexit. Other than this mention I promise not to go there this week. Obviously, there was a lot of other interesting things going on in the world of Freight and Tech. As usual, you can find the highlights below.<h3>Carriers, Freight, and what can happen to it...</h3>“Carriers said they are committed to ending their overreliance on pricing regimes that have sacrificed margins on the altar of market share and that have resulted in billions of dollars in losses. Yet such a dramatic shift to emphasizing value-added services is inherently risky. It requires substantial investments in processes and technology, costs that need to be recouped by attracting new high-margin business. It is unclear if users accustomed to enjoying cheap rates on sailing services will go for pricier, value-added solutions or would rather maintain the status quo.”<a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/message/N4CI7UNDFE2ZM1?autoload=1&amp;app_absent=0&amp;utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-3.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a>→ <a href="https://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/30230-container-line-transformation-faces-its-biggest-test-from-those-paying-the-bills" target="_blank">Container-line transformation faces its biggest test from those paying the bills</a>“Typhoon Mangkhut, meanwhile, struck the Philippines, Hong Kong and mainland China: all important areas for freight import and export. Transport services were suspended, flights canceled, trains stopped and major roads closed in Hong Kong where winds reached more than 110mph and water levels surged to 12 feet in some places.”“FM Global, a commercial and industrial property insurer surveyed 101 senior financial executives at Fortune 1000 organizations just after hurricane season last year. In the report, 64% of the respondents said the hurricane season had an adverse impact on their business, and among those impacted, 62% were not completely prepared to deal with the effects.”→ <a href="https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/freight-surge-blowback-hurricane-michael-florence/542176/" target="_blank">October freight surge blown back by devastating storms</a>If you move your containers door to door via the Cogoport Platform, you will never be in doubt who is responsible for your cargo on any leg of the journey.“Containers frequently pass from one company to another on their long journey, and holding the correct party responsible can be difficult to ascertain with so many touchpoints.”→ <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/containers/companies-paying-billions-for-damage" target="_blank">Container, trailer damage costs companies billions, even when not at fault</a><a href="/signup?utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-2.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a><h3>Sustainability</h3>“A coalition of ports in Europe and the US are demanding the shipping industry deliver on the Paris Climate Agreement.Among those demanding action are six of the top ports in Europe and the US, Antwerp, Barcelona, Hamburg, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Rotterdam, which have launched the World Ports Climate Action Initiative.”→ Container shipping and charity set their combined sights on 'greener' seas<h3>Data and Analytics</h3>While Michael Lewis, author of the Moneyball book (have you seen that movie?), was speaking about the trucking industry, this goes for the ocean freight industry as well. It is why the Cogoport platform is designed to increase insight for its users.“The freight industry could see sweeping changes in leadership as the sector goes through growing pains to adjust to a new age of big data and analytics, author Michael Lewis said ......"We're living in a moment where we're beginning to understand that data has magical possibilities," said Lewis, who is known for nonfiction book titles including Liar's Poker and The Big Short.”→ <a href="https://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/30226-author-michael-lewis-sees-turbulent-future-for-freight-markets-in-age-of-big-data" target="_blank">Author Michael Lewis sees turbulent future for freight markets in age of big data</a><h3>Freight Tech</h3>I love Tech. Whether it’s innovative IT solutions, or more operational solutions like autonomous ships, cars, or drones, Trucks and drones this week.“Last week, Einride started running its all-electric, human-free truck on a commercial route. The “T-pod” is moving pallets of goods between warehouses run by German logistics giant Schenker, in the southern Swedish city of Jönköping. It’s a small, one-year commercial deal: Einride is operating just one truck for the time being, and covering about six miles a day, some of it on public roads, at speeds below 25 mph.”→ <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/einride-self-driving-electric-truck-sweden/" target="_blank">Want to make an all-star electric truck? Drop the driver</a>“As cities across the U.S. look to reduce congestion on their streets, more are taking deliveries and safety initiatives to the skies, with a new drone initiative from the federal government helping drive those efforts.”→ <a href="https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/drone-deliveries-medical-food-disaster/542020/" target="_blank">For drone deliveries, the sky's the limit</a>

Freight, Sustainability, Analytics, and Tech

What a week. There were two big logistics events in the Netherlands and I spoke at both. At Mulitmodal Europe in Rotterdam I spoke about container optimization and the repositioning of empties. For those that weren&rsquo;t there I will write a blog post about it and share it here.
The other event was the ICT &amp; Logistics event in Utrecht where I spoke about how booking a container should be just as fast an easy as booking a hotel. A big thank you to the many people that came to the sessions.
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It&rsquo;s too bad both events were at the same time. I still got to meet a lot of new and interesting people, was interviewed about data and freight in the digital era and got a lot of inspiration from what other companies are doing.
Our new President of Supplier Relations &amp; International Growth Flemming Frost accompanied me to all events. Read more about Flemming in the post from our Founder Shekhar <a href="https://www.cogoport.com/blogs/welcome-on-board" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
I didn&rsquo;t have much time this week, so there are less highlights then usual when it comes to news and interesting reading material that I came across this week. Anyway, here goes:
<h3>The Chinese Economy</h3>
&ldquo;Given that Chinese imports account for nearly half of all container imports moving over U.S. ports, one would be excused for prematurely jumping to the conclusion that U.S. port volumes are at great risk&mdash;as are the logistics and transportation jobs associated with moving Chinese imports from the port of entry to distribution centers and on to final demand markets. But let&rsquo;s not hit the panic button just yet.&rdquo;
&rarr; <a href="https://www.supplychain247.com/article/how_will_the_tariff_war_with_china_affect_u.s._container_ports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How will the tariff war with China affect U.S. container ports?</a>
&ldquo;China&rsquo;s exports climbed 15.6% in October, versus the same month a year ago, in US dollar terms&mdash;way higher than what analysts expected. The real surprise, though, was the eye-popping 21.4% year-over-year leap in Chinese imports. That&rsquo;s odd given that China&rsquo;s economy is slowing abruptly again, which should translate to sluggish demand for goods from consumers and businesses.&rdquo;
<img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-1.png" alt="" width="300px">
&rarr; <a href="https://qz.com/1456033/despite-us-tariffs-chinas-trade-soared-in-october-it-may-not-last" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Despite US tariffs, China&rsquo;s trade soared in October. It may not last.</a>
<h3>Scrubbers</h3>
&ldquo;The decision on whether to invest in scrubber technology on containerships, ahead of the IMO&rsquo;s 0.5% sulphur cap on 1 January 2020, has resulted in ocean carriers adopting a &ldquo;polarised&rdquo; approach, according to an Alphaliner survey.&rdquo;
&rarr; Carriers still weighing up pros and cons of scrubbers vs switch to low-sulphur fuel
<h3>Logistics Tech</h3>
Gartner has published their predictions on strategic tech trends for 2019 again.
&ldquo;While most shippers, brokers, carriers, vendors, and warehouse operators will agree that the logistics industry is awash in emerging technologies, Gartner said its study focuses only on those trends that have substantial disruptive potential that is beginning to break out of an emerging state into broader impact and could reach a tipping point over the next five years.&rdquo;
&rarr; <a href="https://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/30215-gartner-flags-10-strategic-tech-trends-for-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gartner flags 10 strategic tech trends for 2019</a>
I couldn&rsquo;t agree more with the quote below, although I think that for the forseeable future there is more to be gained from automating processes, then automating vehicles. Automating processes is one of the reasons our platform increases efficiency.
&ldquo;Most transport companies say innovation and automation will help transform the industry by helping to boost productivity and reduce costs, according to the survey.&rdquo;
&rarr; <a href="https://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/30205-geopolitics-technological-innovation-top-global-transport-industry-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Geopolitics, technological innovation top global transport industry concerns</a>
One of the barriers blocking the adoption of new technology is one that we made sure is not applicable to our platform: investment. No need to invest. Joining the platform is free and the cost per shipment you pay for using Cogoport are a small percentage of the total cost you save using it.
&ldquo;Barriers to adopting technology persist &ndash; with transport companies citing the major challenges to adopting technology-driven innovation as cost and investment (71%)&rdquo;
&rarr; Automation to Define Future of Transport But There are Obstacles
And two infographics from the people over at FreightWaves on the rise of Transportation Tech.
&rarr; <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/infographics/venture-capital-trends-part-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Transport Tech Rising: Venture Capital Trends (Part 2)</a>
&rarr; <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/infographics/transpor-tech-rising-part-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Transport Tech Rising: Venture Capital Trends (Part 3)</a>
Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/uUXB3EPgVp4?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mikkel J&ouml;nck Schmidt</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/container-cranes-rotterdam" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Unsplash</a>

The Chinese Economy and Logistics Tech

Something interesting happened this afternoon. At 11:30am I got an e-mail from the school my kids go to saying: Good morning. Earlier this morning there was a power outage and now we are closing the school. Please pick up your children at 12:00 noon. 30 minutes notice!Sometimes I wish there was a Cogoschool platform. By that I mean a platform that manages school logistics, much like Cogoport manages freight. One that informs you timely of changes, and potentially suggests alternative solutions for issues. One that informs other parties involved and gives you the means to deal with the changes.<a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/message/N4CI7UNDFE2ZM1?autoload=1&amp;app_absent=0&amp;utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog Banner WA 3.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a>Instead of solving logistics challenges for customers I’m apparently (or a parent-ly) solving logistics issues for a school...Anyway. My highlights from freight and other news this week:<h3>Oil Price</h3>Surcharges have been in almost every Ocean Freight Update I have done these past weeks. As fuel is often an important component of the surcharges:“As the volatility in oil prices continue, there have been different opinions on its future with some predicting a three digit rate in a few years while a few hopeful of a downturn. Banking major Barclays has a rather interesting take on the situation, reasoning out that the prices would fall to around $70 per barrel next year rather climb higher.”→ <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/todays-pickup-panama-city-braces-for-hurricane-michael-6mreh" target="_blank">Barclays predicts oil price to reach $70 next year</a><h3>Pirates of the Caribbean, no, Asia</h3>A total of 64 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia during January-September 2018, a 3 percent increase compared to the same period for 2017, ReCAAP ISC said in its latest report.→ <a href="https://www.marinelink.com/news/piracy-rises-asia-442554" target="_blank">Piracy Rises 3% in Asia</a><a href="https://cogoport.com/signup/en-IN/?utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-1.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a><h3>The Urge to Merge</h3>There’s always talk about alliances, mergers, and takeovers. Between shipping companies, but also between logistics providers. Now there may be another combination of the two:“CEVA had rebuffed a full takeover bid from DSV, while at the same time giving CMA CGM the option to increase its stake to one-third of its shares.”“An accompanying statement from CMA CGM suggested it may well take up this option, and a fully fledged takeover of CEVA could also happen”“CEVA could be dismantled by CMA CGM, or its own management team, in the same way that Damco is by AP Møller-Maersk Group; if so, then, the freight forwarding assets – mainly contracts and staff – could be spun-off and presented to possible suitors.”→ Market Insight: CEVA and CMA CGM – vertical consolidation the next step?<h3>More on Capacity and Carrier Rates</h3>“The decision by Asia-North Europe carriers to blank or suspend 11 head-haul voyages this month appears to have halted the slide in spot rates on the route, the SCFI component virtually unchanged at $731 per TEU.However, if the 2M Alliance reactivates its AE2/Swan loop earlier than planned – on 5 December as suggested by Alphaliner – then spot rates could fall away quickly.”→ Early AE2/Swan return would add to the pressure on Asia-Europe carriers“If there’s a serious drop of Chinese exports into the US, it will push China to find additional markets. There will be winners and losers but a re-balancing within Asia could be positive overall as more consumer markets develop.”“Any big uptick in intra-Asia container volumes is likely to exacerbate port congestion across the region, however.”→ China-US trade war could be the founder of a feast for intra-Asia box traffic<a href="https://cogoport.com/signup/en-IN/?utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-3.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a><h3>Freight Tech</h3>“MSC has announced it will fit some 50,000 of its dry containers with smart technology over the next few months.”“The carrier said the technology would be provided by Traxens, the French container tracking start-up that has received investment from CMA CGM and more latterly MSC. Both carriers have a seat on the Traxens board.”“The Traxens system has three key elements: first, a tracking and environment-monitoring device permanently fitted to the box, which records data such as GPS position, temperature, impacts, movement, and vibration.”→ MSC opts for Traxens technology to create 50,000 'smart' containers“Rolls-Royce is partnering with Intel to conquer the immense amount of data required to make autonomous container ships a reality”“The data required to facilitate autonomous ships is greater in size and complexity than that necessary for autonomous road vehicles because of the increased variability of the environment.”→ <a href="https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/rolls-royce-intel-autonomous-ships-sensors/539683/" target="_blank">Rolls-Royce teams up with Intel on autonomous ships</a>“Energy innovation in shipping is not confined to main propulsion systems. Norsepower has installed its Flettner Rotor Sail Solution on three ships of different types – one Ro-Ro (roll-on, roll-off), one cruise liner and one tanker – and is documenting the resultant fuel savings.”→ <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/planes-trains-automobiles-electric-remake/" target="_blank">Planes, Trains and Automobiles – the Electric Remake</a><h3>Saving the Best for Last</h3>Great news last week: we were recognized as one of the 100 most innovative and disruptive companies in freight! A proud moment for all of us.At the end of last week, our founder Purnendu Shekhar wrote a post about in which he looked back, but also looked forward.“I love seeing their passion every day. Everybody is working closely together to make shipping goods across the globe easier, more efficient, and more transparent.”→ <a href="https://www.cogoport.com/en-IN/blogs/cogoport-recognized-freight-tech-100" target="_blank">Cogoport Recognized in the Freight.Tech 100</a>We were also mentioned in the announcement by Freightwaves:“From on-demand trucking to blockchain, loadboards and freight matching, the list of companies bringing innovative technologies to the freight industry is growing by the day, which makes the 100 that have made the cut to be honored by the FreightWaves Research Institute as part of its inaugural Freight.Tech 100 all the more special.Cogoport is an example. The company believes that booking ocean freight should be as easy as booking a hotel room. Its platform provides instant quotes, helps choose the right ocean carrier, allows for the uploading of documents and manages all shipments”→ <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trucking/innovation-key-to-making-the-freight-tech-100" target="_blank">From upstarts to traditional powers, the Freight.Tech 100 represents all that is innovative about freight</a>Photo by Tim Easley on Unsplash

Oil Prices, Merger, Rates, and Freight Tech

Ocean freight is the most common mode of transport that importers and exporters use. A full 90% of everything is, in fact, shipped by ocean freight and sea freight. Everything around us from what we eat, wear, seat and touch been transport. Cogoport is about empowering each and everyone choice.<a href="https://api.whatsapp.com/message/N4CI7UNDFE2ZM1?autoload=1&amp;app_absent=0&amp;utm_source=web&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=general" target="_blank"><img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog Banner WA 2.png" width="auto" style="width: auto; height: auto;"></a>Started in India, Cogoport helps coordinate the complexity required to move freight across varied network of logistics asset owners. As, no company is big enough to have all the assets required—trucks, container ships, trains, warehouses, and more— multiple asset owners.For every element of international cargo, the process would include customers&nbsp;having to find a truck in both countries, booking freight across the ocean, passing through customs on both sides of the ocean, storing goods in warehouses, and finally arranging the final delivery.On top of that, competitive rates have to be secured and the pricing needs to be clearly known to the end client, to make sure it’s plausible. For a traditional freight forwarder, all of the complex coordination is done using the conventional modes like phones, emails, fax machines, and physical pieces of paper, which are a hassle in itself. To date, there has been more take up of tracking technology in air freight than ocean or sea freight. So, how do we end this extremely fatiguing game?Cogoport is the solution!<img src="https://cdn.cogoport.io/cms-prod/cogo_public/vault/original/Blog-Banner-Portal-1.png" alt="" width="300px">We are improving experience by bringing in softwares, not only promoting automation but also improving the user experience for customers moving freight, subsequently providing transparency, the most necessary element. As a result, our online dashboard gives customers more visibility and control over their structured supply chain than ever before, with transparent pricing and quick tracking.We help in lowering transaction costs and committing fewer errors, thanks to software-driven automation that augments human capabilities. Furthermore, we build specialised softwares, as we have a dedicated team of engineers that strives continuously to develop quality products best suited for our customers and serve them better.Cogoport promotes swiftness by bringing together human expertise and its fully online platform, with instant rate comparisons and live tracking, thereby providing complete transparency to ensure a smooth freight forwarding. In only a couple of months, we have become the most favourable to do business with, in this industry. We are not only making ocean freight hassle-free, but are preferred because we are quick and affordable. We are on the track to win as we have mastered not only the logistics behind ocean freighting but also, most importantly, the experience! We innovate to make you successful.

Hassle-free Ocean Freight: We Make You Successful

<img src="https://prod-cogoport.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/9791a798065e333ef39f37e51597eaee/alex-knight-199368-unsplash.jpg" alt="alex-knight-199368-unsplash.jpg" class="left" width="100%"> It has been an eventful week. Hurricanes and trade wars impacting supply chains and logistics operations in various parts of the world, and the capacity crunch impacting shippers and shipping companies alike. For me personally, the week was literally eventful. I visited the Netherlands India Business Meet event near our European headquarters in Rotterdam and had interesting conversations on opportunitites and trade between India and the Netherlands. I accepted an invitation to speak on the Multimodal Europe event, which will be in Rotterdam November 6 and worked on the presentations I will be giving at the ICT &amp; Logistiek (ICT &amp; Logistics) event in Utrecht November 7 and 8. Speaking about events, here are the events that caught my eye this week in shipping and logistics: The Capacity Crunch The Loadstar has been writing a lot about the capacity crunch this week. Major shipping lines are canceling sailings from Asia to Europe. One of the reasons cited is the early October Chinese Golden Week holiday. Some interesting highlights: According to this week’s World Container Index (WCI) from Drewry, the Asia to North Europe spot rate component was $1,662 per feu, which is 3% down on the previous period.The aggressive rate stance taken by CMA CGM and Maersk on the route, as well as others less publicly, including MSC, is due to a particularly bearish sentiment on forward booking prospects.--&gt; Slack season pressure could spark new Asia-Europe capacity crunch North European exporters are becoming increasingly concerned at the knock-on impact of canceled backhaul voyages in November, and fear a return to the capacity crunch last experienced during the alliance restructuring in April last year.--&gt; Backhaul capacity crisis fears as more Asia-North Europe sailings are blanked Container throughput in the five largest [Chinese] ports was up 6.8% to 40.9 million twenty-foot equivalents (TEU) in the second quarter. However, trade tariffs imposed on China by the US is increasingly seen as a roadblock to further growth.--&gt; <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/sisi-global-ports">Maritime trade continued to see strong growth, but tariffs remain a risk</a>&nbsp; Demolition of container vessels so far this year is at a record 10-year low, with just 24 ships for 47,500 TEU sold for scrap. This compares with 120 vessels equating to 355,000 TEU sent to the breakers by the same point in 2017.TEU--&gt; Gloomy outlook for container charter market as cautious carriers cut capacity&nbsp; The Trade War between the US and China Another thing impacting shipping in a negative way is the ongoing trade war between the US and China. The US is still increasing tariffs. And we haven't seen the end of it yet. So far the impact on shipping has not been big, but that will change. Some interesting snippets: Following the latest round of tariffs introduced by the US and China this week, Drewry has reduced its forecast for global container volume growth from 5.7% to 4.3%.--&gt; Fears over future container terminal capacity as investors get cold feet China and the United States plunged deeper into a trade war on Tuesday after Beijing added $60 billion of U.S. products to its import tariff list in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s planned levies on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.--&gt; <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-response/china-hits-back-by-levying-tariffs-on-60-billion-of-u-s-goods-idUSKCN1LY22V">China to penalize $60 billion of U.S. imports in tit-for-tat move</a> and <a href="https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/tariffs-200-billion-imports-china-trade/532540/">Tariffs on $200B worth of imports from China start Sept. 24</a> Coming off of an all-time monthly high for United States-bound waterborne shipments in July, August levels, while still strong, were down slightly, according to data recently issued by global trade intelligent firm Panjiva. “The basic message is that Trump’s tariffs likely led to accelerated shipments in July instead of August and we may, therefore, have seen the peak of the year already,” said Chris Rogers, Panjiva research director.--&gt; <a href="https://www.supplychain247.com/article/u.s._bound_imports_are_down_sequentially_and_up_annually_in_august_reports">U.S.-bound imports are down sequentially and up annually in August, reports Panjiva</a> The Robots Are Coming And to end on a positive note: good news for us logistics professionals. We have nothing to fear from robots in the workplace. And the same goes for those not in logistics as well. Although some jobs will change and others will go away. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), about 133m jobs globally could be created with the help of rapid technological advances in the workplace over the next decade, compared with 75m that could be displaced.--&gt; <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/sep/17/robots-in-workplace-could-create-double-the-jobs-they-destroy">Robots in the workplace 'could create double the jobs they destroy'</a> Supply chain and logistics specialist positions are safe in the age of automation, according to WEF — in fact the report calls this field "emerging".--&gt; <a href="https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/WEF-report-supply-chain-safe-automation/532653/">Supply chain, logistics professionals are 'safe' from automation</a> Plans for an autonomous, purely electric container ship are making waves internationally as Norway positions itself as a global pioneer in alternative propulsion systems. The ‘Yara Birkeland’ will be the world’s first autonomous electric container ship, and will no doubt change freight transport at sea.--&gt; <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2018/08/23/the-worlds-first-electric-autonomous-container-ship-to-set-sail-in-norway/">The World’s First Electric Autonomous Container Ship To Set Sail In Norway</a>

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