Freight forwarders from all over the world meet in Barcelona

The World Trade Center welcomes, from today until Wednesday 16, the largest meeting of freight forwarders from all around the world ever held in Europe.
It’s the first Sino-European Freight Forwarders Conference organized by WCA Family of Logistic Networks, the world’s most powerful organisation for independent forwarders, with more than 3100 member offices in 170 countries, of which a few dozen are from Spain.
The meeting, sponsored by the Port of Barcelona with collaboration of Ateia, was originally programmed for the last week of October 2009, but a few months earlier had to be cancelled due to the influenza A global outbreak.

Those attending the Sino-European Conference are senior utives of freight forwarding companies, so they are fully qualified to close deals in situ.
According to WCA Family estimates, if attendees make full use of the One-on-One Meetings – the event’s main feature – there could be in Barcelona more than 15,000 individual face-to-face meetings to explore, build and secure business deals in only one place and in a very short period of time: three days, from 10 AM to 6 PM, in 30-minute meetings that attendees scheduled days, weeks or even months before arriving in Barcelona. This was anticipated when 300 delegates were expected to attend, while at the closing of this edition 320 were already registered.

The Sino European Freight Forwarders Conference is a smaller version of the Sino-International Freight Forwarders Conference, held for the first time in Beijing in 2004 and that on the past years has well exceeded one thousand attendees.

In addition, more than 100 utives will extend their stay in Barcelona for two more days in order to attend the WCA Projects Network Conference, to be held from June 16th to June 18th at the Fira Palace Hotel. It is a smaller conference but with the same concept: with the exception of the conference opening, a welcome cocktail, lunch and coffee breaks, both days are fully destined for one-on-one meetings between delegates to explore new business opportunities.

Three hectic days of face-to-face meetings to build international partnerships and close business deals

WCA Family of Logistic Networks is the world’s most powerful organisation for independent forwarders, with more than 3,100 member offices in 170 countries, which enables its affiliates to establish partnerships with companies in almost anywhere in the world.It helps independent and regional forwarders find another professional cargo agent to assist them with their shipments and do business together.And this is precisely the main goal of the Sino Conferences: meet each other face to face to strengthen relationships and expand the network.

On its corporate magazine, WCAF sums up its mission in five sentences:access to reliable partners all around the world; financial protection program; logistics technology solutions; updated member information and concentrated business efforts to bring the most benefits to the members.
Unlike other international business events, Sino Conferences assign very little time to attendee’s passive participation, focusing instead on their active participation.
Conferences consist of only one opening session and thousands of bilateral meetings, both formal (the one-on-one meetings scheduled in advance over the internet) and informal (cocktail reception, coffee breaks, lunch, dinner, etc).
To attend the Sino Conferences you don’t necessarily need to be a member of WCAF.On the contrary, the organization promotes the attendance of other industry related areas such as airlines, shipping lines, shippers and consignees, terminal operators, port and airport authorities.
To become a WCAF member, however, you do need to be a freight forwarder with proven financial stability.

GROWING ATTENDANCE
The success of these conferences has surprised even the organization itself, which has seen the number of attendees multiply in only a few years and even had to increase the maximum capacity to accommodate all registration requests.
More than 600 people attended the first Sino-International Conference held in Beijing in 2004, while more than 1000 delegates attended the one held in Hong Kong in 2009, and another WCAF conference held in Bangkok in January 2010 brought together 1400 people when the initial cap had been set in 1100.
Of these, 50% were Asian, 17% from North America, 15% European, 13% from Middle East and Africa and 4% from Latin America.After the meeting in Barcelona, the first one held under the name of Sino-European Freight Forwarders Conference, there will be another Sino-International Conference on September in Hong Kong, where more than 1500 delegates are expected to attend, and in December there will be a conference held in Africa for the first time.
“Basically, we provide our members with a place to meet hundreds of fellow agents and achieve in only one day the same thing that would otherwise take a huge amount of time and money” a spokesperson for WCA Family points out.
Besides booking the meetings in advance, the most farsighted and resourceful delegates can reserve a booth where they can exhibit all kinds of promotional items and where they can have up to four one-on-one meetings at the same time.
The importance of the Sino-International Conferences has not gone unnoticed in Spain.Last year, the Port of Barcelona (APB) signed an agreement with the organization to become the official sponsor of the event for a year.

What do you expect from the Sino-European Conference?

Frederic Mercier
Sales&Network General Manager
MATHEZ INT. FREIGHT FORWARDERS
Francia,Monaco,Senegal

For a French and Senegalese forwarder with 60 years experience, the Sino-European Conference represents an opportunity for partners from all over the world to arrive on their doorstep. With a one hour flight, we will be sitting face to face with business opportunities in one of Europe’s best conference venues.When two freight forwarders from different countries meet, they can be suppliers and clients at the same time, because we buy and sell.Taking into account that only first class forwarders attend this conference, every formal and informal meeting is 100% a business opportunity.It works so well that the direct costs of the conference are recovered in two months,only with the deals closed on the spot.And they end up being many more.

Anyway, Mathez has been a WCA Family member since the beginning, so many of the attendees are very well known companies to us, with whom we already have fluid collaboration.In this case, the conference allows us to review our cooperation, reinforce strategies and share some good times.

Para un transitario francesy senegales con 60 años de experiencia, la Sino- European Conference representa la oportunidad de que socios de todoel mundo lleguen a su puerta.Con una hora de vuelo, nos sentaremos cara a cara con oportunidades de gocioen una de las mejoresareas de conferencias de Europa. Cuando dos transitarios de distintos paises se encuentran, pueden ser a la vez proveedoresy clientes, porque nosotros vendemosy compramos. Si pensamos que solo transitarios de primera sisten a esta conferencia, cada encuentro formal e informal es una oportunidad de negocio al 100%. Funciona tan bien que los costes directos de la conferencia se amortizan en dos meses solo con las operaciones acordadas in situ. Yacaban siendo muchas mas.De todas maneras, Mathez es miembro de la WCA Family desde el inicio, porlo que algunos de los asistentes son para osotros compañias muy conocidas con las que ya tenemos una colaboracion fluida. En este caso, la conferencia nos permite repasar nuestra colaboracion, reforzar estrategias y compartir un buen rato

We as attendees know that in a Sino Conference there will be a strong presence of first class delegates from all over the world, which gives us the opportunity to make partnership agreements with people who we share the same goals with.On top of that, there’s the attraction of catching up with old friends and getting to know new people that could become partners in the future.The organization helps a lot, both on the formal meetings and on the events specifically prepared to facilitate informal meetings.

In particular, what we value most at UGL are the ideas provided at the general sessions, as well as learning about new products and services and having the opportunity to meet some of the most brilliant professionals of our sector and exchange experiences with them.Of course, we also love the friendly atmosphere and the reunion with old friends, as well as being able to participate in one of the world’s most prestigious freight forwarding events.

Los participantes sabemos que en una Sino Conference va a haber una fuerte presencia de asistentes de primer nivel de todo el mundo, lo que nos da la oportunidad de establecer acuerdos de colaboracion con personas con las que perseguimos objetivos comunes.A ello se añade el atractivo de ponerse al dia conlos viejos amigosy de conocer nuevas caras de personas que en el futuro pueden ser aliados.La organizacion ayuda mucho, tanto en los encuentros formales como en los eventos preparados para facilitar los contactos

informales. En particular, en UGL lo que mas valoramos son las ideas que las conferencias magistrales te proporcionan, asi como descubrir nuevos productos y servicios o tener la oportunidad de conocer a algunos de los profesionales mas brillantes de tu sectory de departir e intercambiar experiencias con ellos.Por descontado, tambien nos encanta la atmosfera amigable yel reencuentro con viejos conocidos, asi como poder formar parte de uno de los eventos sobre el sector transitario global de mayor prestigio.

Ivo A. Mafra
Manager director
DC LOGISTICS BRASIL
Brasil

We attended the meeting in Barcelona with the idea of reuniting with our partners and telling them how much we appreciate their support and in the continuous search for new business opportunities and solutions and improvements for our clients.Specifically, we would like to explain our plans, like the new sales branch offices we have in Brazil (in Porto Alegre and Manaus), thanks to the good economic outlook for our country, or the goals for our European delegation.

And, as the trustworthy partners we believe to ourselves to be, we would like DC Logistics Brasil to be the first choice for our partners when it comes to dealing with Brazil.

For us, having been part of WCAF for four years, these meetings have given us the opportunity to make ourselves known, to renew partnerships and make new ones and to establish good personal relationships with them.They are very professional meetings where everyone has the chance to achieve their goals if they work hard.

Asistimos a la reunion de Barcelona con la idea de reencontrarnos con nuestros socios y de decirles lo mucho que apreciamos su apoyo en las empresas comunes y en la busqueda constante de oportunidades de negocio y de soluciones y mejoras para nuestros clientes. En concreto, nos gustaria explicar nuestros planes, como las nuevas ramas de ventas que tenemos en Brasil (en Porto Alegre y Manaus), gracias a las buenas perspectivas economicas de nuestro pais, o los objetivos que tiene nuestra delegacion en Europa.

Y, como socios dignos de confianza que creemos ser, nos gustaria que DC Logistics Brasil fuera la primera opcion para uestros socios cuando se trate de Brasil.

Para nosotros, que hace cuatro años que formamos parte de WACF, estas reuniones nos han dado la oportunidad de darnos a conocer, de renovar socios y descubrir nuevos y de establecer buenas relaciones personales con ellos. Son reuniones muy rofesionales donde todo el mundo tiene la oportunidad de lograr sus objetivos si trabaja duro.

Mike Jauregui
Manager
ASHTON CARGO BILBAO
Spain 

Sino is, above all, a great opportunity.Our activity as freight forwarders requires us to have a network of reliable and secure international agents.The Sino Conference is the perfect opportunity to approach, together with CIFA (Chinese International Freight Forwarders Association), a large representation of Chinese forwarders with whom we can establish relationships for future cooperation.The profile of the small/medium sized forwarder that will attend the conference needs to make the maximum contacts possible with the other attending forwarders, which is a great opportunity offered by the one-on-one meetings to exchange company profiles, services and strategies.We shouldn’t forget that all this is done in a city like Barcelona and that for the cargo agents from this country, this means having the chance to do a big job with significant costs savings.It isn’t hard to imagine what it would be like to do all this networking with a suitcase on one hand and knocking on every door with the other one.

La Sino es, ante todo, una gran oportunidad. Nuestra actividad como transitarios nos obliga a disponer de una red de corresponsales internacional fiable y con garantias.La Sino es la oportunidad perfecta para acercarnos, de la mano de CIFA (Chinese International Freight Fowarders Association), a una nutrida representacion de transitarios chinos, con quien poder stablecer relaciones para futuras colaboraciones. El perfil de pequeña/mediana empresa transitaria que atendera ayoritariamente la conferencia precisa tener el maximo de contactos entre los transitarios asistentes, es una gran oportunidad que los meetings one to one ofrecen para intercambiar perfiles, servicios y estrategias. No podemos olvidar que todo esto se hace en una ciudad como Barcelona, y que para los transitarios de este pais significa tener la oportunidad de hacer un gran trabajo con un importante ahorro de costes.No es dificil imaginar lo que supondria hacer todos estos contactos con una maleta en la mano y con la otra llamando a cada puerta. 

Sam Shen
General Manager
PRIMY OCEAN AIR LOGISTICS
CHINA 

The Sino-European Conference is a great opportunity.Twenty years ago in China we didn’t have logistics or forwarding companies. There wasn’t even an accurate translation of these words in the Chinese language.Now there are thousands of them, some big and some small, that need to build their own international network.This conference is so important for us that we are sending six people; we have high expectations of both business and personal development.Meeting different people from different countries will enable our staff to see things through different eyes, learn how the forwarding business works in other parts of the world, and help our partners understand how we operate in China.To be an international freight forwarder in China, the professional ones not only need to be international in appearance, but also in mindset.

Our goal is to develop new markets, strengthen our network and, at the same time, learn from the achievements of some successful WCA members, so that the enrichment is mutual and the service improvement as well.

La Sino-European Conference es una gran oportunidad. Hace 20 años, en China no teniamos ni empresas transitarias ni logisticas, ni siquiera habia una traduccion adecuada para estos nombres en nuestra lengua. Hoy hay miles de ellas, algunas grandes y otras pequeñas, que tienen que ir construyendo su propia red internacional.Esta conferencia es tan importante para nosotros que enviamos a seis personas; tenemos muchas expectativas de desarrollo empresarial y personal.Encontrarse on gente distinta de paises distintos permitira a nuestra gente ver las cosas con otros ojos, aprender como el negocio transitario se entiende en otras partes del mundo y ayudar a nuestros socios a entender como operamos en China. Para ser un transitario internacional en China los profesionales no solo tienen que ser internacionales en apariencia, sino en mentalidad. Nuestra bjetivo es abrir nuevos mercados, reforzar nuestra red y, al mismo tiempo, aprender de los logros de algunos exitosos socios de la CA, de tal forma que el enriquecimiento sea mutuo y la mejora del servicio tambien.

INTERVIEW WITH MR. DAVID YOKEUM,
WCA FAMILY PRESIDENT

1. How and why the WCA Family was founded and how did the idea of Sino Conference appear?

Let me start with WHY, and rephrase it somewhat – Where would the independent forwarder be without a network?In having a clear picture of that, the WHY becomes abundantly clear. Without a network, each independent forwarder would not have any concrete idea who he was dealing with on the other side of the world.No worldwide meetings would have occurred, giving the independent an opportunity to travel once, and actually meet face to face in one location, with his many counterparts from all over the world.

There would be no collective buying power for a single independent.Without a network, no independent would be able to insure his business AND his customers cargo at the rates he can using our preferred provider.He can also consolidate his volumes of cargo using a neutral NVOCC that provides rates, AMS filings, and is licensed both in the US and China.

If a dispute exists between the parties involved in the shipment, who do they turn to for help?FIATA, TIACA, IATA has no provisions for dispute resolution that I am aware of.We have a dispute resolution system that our members can use anytime they need it.

How does an independent, without a network promote himself to customers and counterparts?A simple listing in an obscure directory isn’t much of a marketing plan.We offer marketing services and business-to-business solutions for promoting your company, including a monthly ‘newspaper’ reaching over 120,00 readers.

A true independent may make a stab at picking the proper information technology to support his business, only to find many other independents aren’t using it and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is lacking between his system and many of his counterparts.We have IT solutions, and are constantly striving to find and provide the most up-to-date systems available to our members.

Many of the transactions in the forwarding business are for small amounts of money.How do you make any money when the bank transfer fees consume a large part of profits?We offer an internal transaction system that lets members pay each other without exorbitant bank fees.

What protection does an independent have when dealing with a company clear on the other side of the world to collect his freight costs, and forward the monies to the appropriate party?We offer that protection for member-to-member transactions.

With a network, the independent can have all of this and more, but of course he must select the right network. It gives them a voice in the freight forwarding world – remember the saying 1+1 = 3…..the adage that collectively the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

That is the why - the how?I started WCA Family one step at a time, just like many of our members started their own business.I began talking to forwarders, travelling all over the world, meeting them and discussing their needs.I formed my first “network” in 1987, and like all entrepreneurs, learned quite a bit.It was this learning experience that moved me from the member-owned concept to the independently owned and managed concept that WCA Family retains today.What this ensures is complete impartiality in all aspects and services we provide to our members.It is truly a business that focuses on its membership equally across countries, trade lanes, large, small, and medium companies.

The Sino-Conference was an outgrowth of CIFA approaching me in early 2004, and asking how I might be able to assist the 30,000 independent China forwarders.China had joined the WTO in late 2001, and was emerging as a true global force by 2004.Using the same strategy as when I started the network, I travelled around China, met with many independents and tried to determine what it was they exactly needed to fit into the networking concept. I advised CIFA that the size of the Chinese market made it feasible for the China forwarder to have their own network, so CGLN was formed.We “brought the world to China” by putting on the first ever Sino Foreign Forwarders Conference in Beijing.Over 300 independents from all over the world, plus nearly 200 Chinese forwarders – at the time, the largest gathering of independent forwarders, met and worked together.Well, once you push that snowball downhill, all it does is get bigger and bigger, and today, the Sino Foreign Forwarders conference is still the largest gathering of independent forwarders with over 1500 delegates expected this year.

2.Why have you chosen Barcelona for the first European Sino Conference?

Focus – we found that many ports, airlines, shipping lines and forwarders want to focus on those great emerging markets and develop relationships that can continue across time. The Port of Barcelona attended one of our conferences some years ago and was impressed with the way the conference was held and the potential they saw. They approached WCA Family and asked to join us in hosting a conference for Europe. Barcelona is really a hub for a lot of the European cargo traffic, so it seemed natural that our members and others in the logistics industry would want to get together at just such a place and transact business, establish relationships and share commonalities.

3. How has the crisis affected the global freight industry and what are the most important challenges facing now?

During the last two to three years, we found that our members, while suffering through the crisis like every other business, still managed to keep their heads above water and weather the economics out.As shippers learned that they had to control costs, one of the focal points was their logistics chain.The independent offers manoeuvrability, flexibility, and individual attention to their customers needs.Add to that local knowledge on both ends of the supply chain, and you have the best logistical solutions in the world at your fingertips.Local, tailored logistics solutions are especially important in a recovering economy.While container volume was down 29% in Barcelona, the economy will recover, and recovery necessarily means the movement of goods.Our members will participate in this recovery to a great deal.The important challenges are to remain flexible and provide those individual solutions as the volume recovers.

4. What advice would you give to your Spanish counterparts?

My advice would be for them to be more aggressive towards the international business, make sure they are training their internal personnel in all aspects of handling the business, and seek niches they can participate in such as perishables, heavy lift, projects – whatever they are capable of to spread their expertise out.But be sure and establish a core competence in each area you embark upon, and always work towards improving and learning in each of the areas.Learning doesn’t stop – it is a dynamic, ever-changing, breathing organism.Progress unrelentingly requires change – learning is essential to change, for it creates new wants and the ability to satisfy them.

5. What main differences do you observe between the freight forwarders work in the different parts of the world?

Probably the central differences are cultural in nature. I cannot even begin to count the number of issues that we have delved into across the world that after sorting through all of the chaff, it was determined that it was really a cultural difference that was at the root of the problem.

Communications, languages, documentation, customs rules and requirements – all of these are pitfalls for the forwarder in moving even a single piece of cargo from one country to another.That is why it is so important for independents to have a partner at the other end of the movement they can rely on.

Emerging markets vs mature markets and how the movement of cargo is affected across those markets.New forwarders vs experienced forwarders.All of these play a significant but different part in handling a shipment.

6. Have loaders companies definitely learned it’s not a good idea to arrange transport of cargo on their own?

Let me start by saying that arranging transport of cargo is NOT the core business of loader companies, but it IS the core business of the forwarder.I know you have all seen the odd combinations of businesses, like “Joe’s Welding Service – Restaurant - Laundry shop.”

The logistic chain is an integral part of the total cost of a business that moves its goods internationally or even locally.You maximize your ability to make a fair profit and move your goods consistently by picking not only the cheapest way to move them, but the best way.You must ensure two critical aspects – Get the product to market timely in the appropriate condition, and do it economically. The forwarder, particularly one who belongs to a network and can confidently work with a trusted partner clear on the other side of the world is the best method to do just that.

One hundred Asian logistics operators land in Barcelona

If forecasts are met, business between China and Spain will reach EUR 34,000 million in 2011.

The Chinese economy grew 11.9% during the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period the previous year.During this time, the value of its imports and exports amounted to 50 billion Euros, which represented a spectacular jump of 44.1% from the previous year.About to become the second largest economy in the world, China is, without a doubt, the great actor in world trade, thus the importance of the Asian giant to be so well represented in the Sino-European Conference in Barcelona.Out of the 320 attendees, 75 are Chinese, by far the largest delegation at the event. They are joined by a dozen Indians and some utives from other countries such as South Korea or Pakistan.

In fact, as recalled by Ateia’s president, Mariano Fernandez, the meeting in Barcelona has its origin in the XI Summit China-EU, held in Prague in 2009, and where the Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, advocated moving forward together and increase business ties in all sectors.Specifically, between China and Spain the objective is to achieve a turnover of USD 34,000 million in 2011.

“The biggest business event in international transport and logistics for Chinese freight forwarding companies is held in Barcelona for the first time, hub to European markets, North Africa and Latin America, among other regions”, points out Fernandez.

“From Ateia-OLT –he adds–, we have promoted an event of this nature because we are convinced of the great business opportunities it can bring to our associated companies”.Spanish attendance is the second largest, with 56 delegates registered as of this writing, followed far behind by the USA, with 20. If you add to the Spanish delegates the more than 70 attendees from other European Union countries (there is representation from practically all of them), the number rises to 130, which gives the idea that the meetings between Asia and Europe will be a constant during the three days of the Sino Conference.

Anyway, the variety is much greater.According to the list of attendees published by the organization, there are more than 200 forwarders and other companies from the international logistics industry with 102 countries represented, some as exotic as Zambia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Togo, Burundi and Ethiopia

Catalan Presence
Not surprisingly, Catalan companies predominate within the Spanish representation, although there are also companies from Madrid, Bilbao, Valencia, Canarias, Algeciras, Cadiz and Vigo.
Specifically, companies from Barcelona (or with offices in Barcelona) that are attending include Aduanas Alie, AFS Barcelona, Agenmar, Asta Logistik, Asthon Cargo, Coma y Ribas, Fercam, Ferrer Forwarders, Horizon International, Intertransit, Leoprex, Liberty Cargo, Lo-Trans Logistica y Transporte, Logisber Forwarding, Metropolitana de Aduanas y Transportes, Nadal Forwarding, Neutral Partner, Port de Barcelona, Slot Charter, Sparber Group, TI Intercargo 1999, TCT, Transitainer, Vapores Suardiaz Mediterraneo, Velice Logistica, Tarragona, Intertransit, Transitainer and Vapores Suardiaz.

MARKETS
The freight forwarder family sets its sights toward the power of Africa
WCA Family has opened an office in Ghana and will hold its first African conference in Kenya at the end of the year.
The intensification, in the last several years, of relations between China and the continent of Africa, explains why Africa has become an essential objective for WCAF members. Two recent bits of news explains this attitude: In January, WCAF opened a regional office in Accra (Ghana). This would be their eighth office after opening in Shanghai, Mumbai, Bangkok, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Las Vegas, and Chicago. In addition, the first African meeting of freight forwarders will be held in Nairobi, Kenya this December.

The Sino-International Freight Forwarders Conferences are co-organized by the China International Freight Forwarders Association (aka CIFA, with 6,000 members), which falls under the jurisdiction of the China Ministry of Commerce.Just as important for this organization is the Nairobi meeting, named the Sino-African Freight Forwarders Conference by CIFA and WCA Family. 300 delegates are expected, among them 50 of the top Chinese forwarding companies.

Consequently, the Ghana office has as its objective the growth of the freight forwarding family on that continent (Africa) “beginning with the countries with the most quickly emerging economies where we have fewer members” per Gangadhar Iyer, WCAF GM for Africa. The creation of a network of reliable and qualified agents in Africa is of vital importance to WCA Family, given that “what appears on a map as a straight route may be, on the ground, impractical or unsafe”.
The African emergence also hasn’t gone unnoticed in Spain.Feteia president Enric Tico never tires of repeating that Spanish freight forwarders must play an important role in this new market and encourages them to set up agreements with their Africa counterparts.

Shippers bet on freight forwarders to reduce transportation costs

Companies opt to outsource transportation services in order to convert their fixed costs into variable ones, according to Drewry Supply Chain.

Freight forwarding companies can obtain much more competitive transportation prices thanks to the volume they control. Freight forwarders are noticing an increase in activity thanks to the outsourcing of transportation services. In response to the economic slowdown and market volatility, shippers are utilizing the services of freight forwarders more and more to reduce their fixed costs and the risks of over-capacity, according to a recent study by Drewry Supply Chain.

In agreement with this analysis from the British consultant, Mariano Fernandez, the president of Ateia Barcelona, points out that “suppliers are dedicating themselves more to their core business and outsourcing transportation services to freight forwarders”. Phillip Damas, director of Drewry Supply Chain Advisors, believes that “the decision to outsource is based on the advantages of converting fixed costs into variable costs”.

The Drewry study insists that “fixed logistics capacity can be a strategic disadvantage during times of economic recession”. For this reason, “many shippers resort to freight forwarders to find better and more cost-effective ways to transport merchandise”.

The British consultant affirmed that “shippers need to define if transport is a cost or a value-added service”. As a result of that decision they can choose to outsource some or all their transportation activities to a freight forwarder. The majority of small and medium shippers has greatly reduced its logistics department and, in some cases, has decided to eliminate it and instead utilize the services of freight forwarders.

For them, outsourcing has a dual cost- reduction objective: fewer personnel for the shipper and a more efficient supply chain. On the other hand, industry sources point out that freight forwarders with the critical mass they possess, are able to achieve more competitive transport prices. Besides, according to the same sources, “it’s rare for a carrier to grant credit to a shipper but will to a freight forwarder”. All these reasons cause Drewry Supply Chain to affirm that “forwarders are gaining market share at the expense of ocean and air carriers”. According to the consultant’s statistics, worldwide turnover for freight forwarding companies surpassed 338,000 million Euros in 2008, of those 196,000 million were for ocean transport, the balance for air.

WILL THE RECOLVERY ACCELERATE?

This drive toward outsourcing can act as a lesson for freight forwarders. Forecasts for the industry at the close of 2009 foresaw a long and slow recovery. In fact, Transport Intelligence predicts an annual growth rate of only 1.5% until 2012.

Anyway, Feteia’s president Enric Tico already predicted a few months ago that “larger companies will begin to see decent numbers by mid-2010 but believes he cannot speak about the forwarding industry as a whole until the beginning of next year.

INFO

Growth in the freight forwarding industry by geographic region

The study ‘Global Freight Forwarding2009’ from consultant Transport Intelligence predicted, at the end of last year, that the 2012 growth in the forwarding industry would be especially strong in Africa and the Middle East, while in Europe with an increase of 1.5% (however weak, would surpass that of North and South America) as soon as they will have begun to recover from the severe fall of business suffered in 2008 and 2009. According to this study, the larger forwarders are gaining market share.

Sino-European Conference

NETWORKS
The second part of the “forwarders” event this Wednesday at the Fira Palace
The members of one of the principle networks of the WCA Family (WCAF) continue until Friday in a more confined space, with” one-on-one” meetings
More than 100 delegates from the Sino-European Conference will extend their stay in Barcelona until Friday, because upon the closing of the Sino Conference, the 4th WCA Projects Network Conference (WCAPN) will begin at the Fira Palace Hotel. In contrast to the Sino Conference, only WCAPN members or those expressly invited can participate.

The WCAPN is one of the branch networks of freight forwarders of the WCA Family of Logistic Networks, which was born out of the World Cargo Alliance (WCA), formed in 1998 and started with eight cargo agents as members. To join any of these networks one must prove expertise in transporting cargo of all types and sizes as well as service excellence and financial strength.Other networks forming part of the WCA Family also specialize in some type of merchandise (such as perishables) or mode of transport (sea, air). In addition, one of the networks, Advanced Professional Logistics Network (APLN), brings together the worldwide elite of the freight forwarding industry. According to its website “Every single applicant to join APLN is individually examined and more than two-thirds of applications are rejected. APLN represents only the cream of international independent forwarders”.

SURPASS INSTABUL
Although, on paper, the purpose of the WCAPN conference is “to discuss current trends and methodologies, cooperation and strategy and the future of the cargo transportation industry”, the format is practically the same as that of the Sino Conference: an inaugural session with a few technical presentations from the sponsors, and afterwardstwo days of half-hour “one-on-one” pre-arranged meetings. The last annual WCAPN conference was held in September of last year in Istanbul, Turkey with 120 delegates from 40 countries, a total that the organizers believe will be surpassed in Barcelona with an expected total of 150 people from 70 counties.
The WCAF presents an annual award to the”top agent” of the principle networks, which in 2009 were Broadspeed Logistics (WCA), DC Logistics Brazil (APLN), and ILS Cargo Transportes (IGLN); the best European agents were Challenge International (WCA), Unsworth UK (APLN) and Mathez Transports Internationaux (IGLN).