Sea Freight Forwarding Market

Freight forwarding is a business that organizes shipments for individuals or corporations to get goods from the manufacturer to a customer or a final point of distribution. Freight forwarders specialize in lowering costs and facilitating the logistics of transportation. Moreover, a freight forwarder is responsible for transportation of goods from one destination to another. Sea freight forwarding is a method of transporting large amounts of goods using carrier ships. Goods are packed into containers and then loaded onto a vessel. A typical cargo ship can carry around 18,000 containers, which means that sea freight is a cost-efficient way to transport high quantities over large distances. Furthermore, sea freight forwarding is mostly done using containers loaded with cargoes these containers are of two types of full container load (FCL) and less than container load (LCL). FCL means a single container that is booked by the shipper exclusively for the transportation of their cargo and the shipper does not have to share the container with cargo booked by other shippers. Thus, FCL enhances security and simplifies sea freight logistics management. Whereas in LCL the exporter does not have to book an entire container because the size of the cargo is small. In addition, smaller shipments are needed to be sent economically and are less time-sensitive therefore, sent via LCL container.

COVID-19 Impact Analysis: 

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of cargo ships were not allowed to dock at ports by local authorities. Hence a lot of merchant sailors were stranded on ship itself. Ship owners also had to pay additional cost since their ships were stranded on territorial water for an extended period. In addition, owing to the outbreak, movement of ships were restricted thus there were a lot of seafarers who reached to the end of their employment contract and needed them to be renewed. Moreover, to prevent the risk of spreading of COVID-19 there has been a decline in import and export of products and goods. Thus, COVID-19 severely affected freight forwarding market since, since there were a lot of ships whose lease had ended and required renewal but lessee where not able to pay due to financial constraint. COVID-19 has severely affected the shipping industry, which is expected to recover soon since, shipping plays a very important role in transportation worldwide.

Top Impacting Factors 

•  Rise in cross border e-commerce, rise in demand fort cargo transportation through marines, and rise in demand for safe & fast delivery cargo is expected to drive growth of the market.
•  However, rise in shipment delay due to bad weather conditions and rise in ship maintenance cost can hamper growth of the market. 
•  Moreover, rise in number of heavy cargoes for transportation, rise in international trade, and rise in demand for low-cost cargo transportation methods can act as an opportunity for growth of the market.

Market Trends
Rise in cross border e-commerce

The global e-commerce sales jumped to $26.7 trillion in 2019, up by 4% from 2018, according to the latest available estimates which is expected to grow in the coming years. Online shopping is one of the most popular online activities worldwide and with flexible shipping methods both domestic and cross-border e-commerce, is booming in developing markets such as China, India, and Indonesia. For instance, in China cross-border e-commerce transactions already account for up to 20 percent of total import and export trading volumes. Thus, rise in cross border e-commerce is expected to drive growth of freight forwarding market.

Rise in demand for cargo transportation through marines

Rise in air freight charges has increased the demand for transportation of cargo through waterways. Since, transportation of cargo through marines is economical & efficient and heavy & bulky cargo can be easily transported. Moreover, demand for safe and environment friendly transportation is increasing the demand for sea freight forwarding. For instance, according to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), approximately 1.68 billion tons of cargo is transported every year around the world in 177.6 million containers covering 998 billion tons-miles. Moreover, in 2019 world’s leading sea freight forwarding company Kuehne + Nagel generated around $28 billion from its worldwide operations. Thus, the rise in cargo transportation through marines is expected to drive growth of freight forwarding market.

Key Benefits of the Report:

•  This study presents the analytical depiction of the sea freight forwarding market along with the current trends and future estimations to determine the imminent investment pockets.
•  The report presents information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities along with challenges of the sea freight forwarding market.
•  The current market is quantitatively analyzed to highlight the sea freight forwarding market growth scenario.
•  The report provides detailed sea freight forwarding market analysis based on competitive intensity and how the competition will take shape in coming years.

Questions answered in the sea freight forwarding market research report:

•  Which are the leading market players active in the sea freight forwarding market?
•  What would be the detailed impact of COVID-19 on the market?
•  What current trends would influence the market in the next few years?
•  What are the driving factors, restraints, and opportunities in the sea freight forwarding market?
•  What are the projections for the future that would help in taking further strategic steps? 

 Sea Freight Forwarding Market Report Highlights