Ceva Logistics announced
disappointing 2013 financial figures as EBITDA and revenue declined. Underperforming
air freight volumes out of Asia were cited as a key contributor. However,
according to Rickard Ingvarsson, Vice President, Airfreight, Asia Pacific,
the full year results did not fully reflect more recent changes in air
freight markets.
“Airfreight demand started to
pick up after summer 2013 and had its peak during the last quarter, in
particular out of China and Hong Kong – something the industry has
not seen for a couple of years,” he told FlyingTypers. “It
is too early to tell whether this will continue in 2014 as demand before
and after Chinese New Year was soft.”
Ceva, which is largely owned by private
equity firms, currently has 11 global gateways used for air cargo are
supported by a strong trucking network that allows the company to over
1,000 locations in more than 170 countries regularly. “Our sourcing
is dual,” said Ingvarsson. “That is, spot buying at local
level as well as annual global procurement with our core carriers managed
centrally by our airfreight organisation.”
Critical to ensuring the forward success
of the Netherlands-based logistics giant will be bolstering its performance
in Asian freight markets. Last year Ceva opened a Centre of Logistics
Excellence in Singapore to enable the simulation of a wide range of logistics
solutions. This allows Ceva’s managers to showcase supply chain
innovations to customers in a real time environment,
“Globally we are working on
seven Ceva defined core trade lanes but the main focus for the Asia Pacific
organization are Asia to USA, Intra Asia and Asia to Europe,” explained
Ingvarsson. “With the increasing domestic consumption of growing
Asian countries, intra-Asia trading has been on the rise in recent years.”
Ingvarsson believes cost is the main
driver for shippers looking for alternative transport modes to air, but
the air industry has also been affected by this downsizing of demand.
“For a global integrated network forwarder like Ceva, we are able
to adapt and offer customized transport solutions in ocean, rail, overland
and multi-mode like sea air or deferred airfreight services with longer
lead-times at discounted rates depending on our customers’ requirements,”
he added.
However, despite these trends Ingvarsson
is upbeat about 2014, especially in Asia. He expects pharma demand in
India to increase but forecasts that China will be the key to the success
of the global economy this year, even if the days of double digit year-on-year
GDP growth appear to have passed. He said exports from China might be
hit by upward pressure on the RMB, but imports were becoming an important
part of the mix.
“We have seen China imports
grow significantly in last couple of years,” he said. “Today
their import and export trade is more balanced than before. Previously,
a lot of imports were related to manufacturing industries, for example,
raw materials. Currently, all types of commodities including high end
branded goods are being imported to China as the population’s purchasing
power gets stronger.
“Other interesting and emerging
markets are Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesia. But also mature countries
like South Korea and Taiwan will play a key role in the Asia airfreight
market.
“During 2014, we can expect
our global technology sector customers to continue pushing forward with
new product launches [giving impetus to] ‘time to market’
demand with airfreight as its focus.
“Ceva’s expectation for
2014 is to grow our Freight Management - Air and Ocean - business and
set a strong foundation for coming years. We have invested substantially
in building a strong and competitive airfreight organisation globally
with the right resources including senior trade lane expertise, compelling
solutions and focus on customers as well as working strategically with
carriers to grow the market.”
SkyKing |
