The Global Freight Forwarding Report 2016

NEW and exclusive to Ti Insight

About the 2016 Global Freight Forwarding Report

The Global Freight Forwarding report provides industry leading analysis of global, regional and country level freight forwarding markets as well as detailed analysis of the financial and volume performance of the most significant players. In addition, the report also contains comprehensive profiles of the top 15 freight forwarders.

This report contains

  • Extensive market size and forecasting
  • Comprehensive logistics provider profiles
  • Analysis of financial and volume performance of the biggest players
  • Technological developments in freight forwarding
  • Trade lane analysis

This report contains

  • Extensive market size and forecasting
  • Comprehensive logistics provider profiles
  • Analysis of financial and volume performance of the biggest players
  • Technological developments in freight forwarding
  • Trade lane analysis

Exclusive Highlights on
Market Size and Forecasts

  • The global freight forwarding market is estimated to have contracted by 1.6% in nominal terms in 2015.
  • Ti expects the market share of Europe to contract between 2015 and 2019, whereas emerging regions will gain.
  • DSV is the major mover in the top 10 when including the estimated full-year impact of its acquisition of UTi
  • Combined, the 20 leading forwarders are thought to represent almost 58% of the market.
  • Small forwarders continue to effectively compete against the largest in the industry, demonstrating that economies of scale are not the be-all and end-all of the business.

Exclusive Highlights on
Trade Lanes

  • The top ten regional trade flows, in terms of value, represented 78% of the total value of traded goods in 2015. Intra-regional trade dominates the global picture, with the top three intra-regional trade lanes alone accounting for 52% of global trade.
  • The dominance of intra-regional trade is likely to continue. However, APAC to North America flows have grown since 2014, reflecting the growing importance of emerging Asian economies in global trade.
  • In the future, new trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are likely to boost trade between APAC and North America, and the EU and the US. Freight forwarders will adapt to these changing, dynamic global trade patterns through new solutions, partnerships and geographic expansion.

Prof John Manners-Bell 

Prof John Manners-Bell is Chief Executive of Ti, Honorary Visiting Professor at the London Metropolitan University’s Guildhall Faculty of Business and Law and an adviser to the World Economic Forum. He has over 25 years’ experience working in and analysing the global logistics sector. 

Ken Lyon 

Ken Lyon is Managing Director of Virtual Partners Ltd and has over 30 years of experience in the transportation industry. Ken specialises in the use of advanced information systems to manage the operations of 3PL, 4PL and Lead Logistics Providers and their trading partner networks. 

David Buckby

Having obtained a Masters in Economics David is now Ti’s resident Economist. David manages one of Ti’s core strengths, that of quantitative analysis of a range of logistics markets, including sizing and forecasting. 

Alessandro Pasetti

Alessandro Pasetti, financial columnist, is the founder of UK-based, SEO firm Hedging Beta Ltd. He currently writes for The Loadstar, Seeking Alpha, among others. Ale also covers investment strategy and assets valuation for several European clients.

Lilith Nagorski

Lilith Nagorski is Head of Ti’s Research Department. Lilith joined the company as a Researcher working primarily on the providers’ area of the GSCi portal and quickly brought improvements to the organisation of the department.

  • The global freight forwarding market is estimated to have contracted by 1.6% in nominal terms in 2015. In both air and sea freight, all the global metrics point to a year-on-year slowdown in volume growth.
  • Ti forecasts a real 15-19 CAGR of 4.6% for the global freight forwarding market. Europe’s market share of this is expected to contract whilst emerging regions gain share in its place.
  • Intra-regional trade dominates the global picture, with the top three intra-regional trade lanes alone accounting for 52% of global trade. However, new trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership are likely to boost trade between APAC and North America, and the EU and the US.
  • Combined, the 20 leading forwarders are thought to represent almost 58% of the market, but small forwarders continue to effectively compete against the largest in the industry, demonstrating that economies of scale are not the be-all and end-all of the business.
  • For SMEs to prosper they must exploit the opportunities that the democratization of technology has brought in order to grow and lock in customers.
  • Disintermediation from cloud-based technology start-ups is unlikely, but the technology itself will become increasingly important for freight forwarders.
  • A collaborative supply network, driven by software and with a scope beyond individual supply chains, could transform the industry.
  • Mergers and acquisitions in the industry have disrupted the global, air and sea freight rankings. DSV’s acquisition of Uti caused the most impact with the combined entity’s forwarding revenues estimated to be around €2bn larger than DSV a year ago. Looking ahead, it would be surprising if there were no significant deals to alter the landscape of the market even more. Further consolidation seems inevitable.
  • The systemic impact of low global oil prices has been a double edged sword for freight forwarders; whilst some have been able to increase their profit margin, others have taken a substantial hit to revenues as a result of declining demand for industrial projects.
  • With low demand in the market, several companies look to be focussing their efforts on improving profitability rather than growth. This has been manifested through rationalisation, investments in software, and an emphasis on high value contract opportunities.

Introduction

  • How will the industry evolve?
  • What does consolidation look like?
  • How will technology impact the sector?

Financial and volume analysis 

  • How has the air freight forwarding sector performed in 2015?
  • How has the sea freight forwarding sector performed in 2015?
  • How have bottom line margins and profitability been impacted in 2015?

Technology in freight forwarding

  • How will forwarders adapt and survive?

Tradelane analysis

  • How have regional flows changed across markets and sectors?

Market size and forecast analysis

    • Which freight forwarders have the largest market share?
    • How does market size vary from region to region?

Profiles of major freight forwarders

  • The top 15 global freight forwarders reviewed and analysed.

Visibility: the secret to a successful freight forwarder?

  • The advent of cloud-based instant quotation and booking systems, such as Freightos and Cargobase, has led some to question the utility of traditional freight forwarders.
  • There is potential to see an industry-wide decoupling between these data-unified freight forwarders and the less profitable data-fragmented ones.
  • Cross-border B2C e-commerce represents both an opportunity and a major threat for freight forwarders, with a new generation of providers entering the market.

21st June 2016, Bath, UK: Ti is pleased to announce that the latest edition of its best-selling report, Global Freight Forwarding, is now available to purchase. As with previous years, the report provides industry leading analysis of global, regional and country level freight forwarding markets as well as detailed analysis of the financial and volume performance of the most significant players. In addition, the report also contains comprehensive profiles of the top 15 freight forwarders.

These profiles include analysis of the company’s background, finances and technological capabilities, as well as a strategic profile and SWOT analysis. Combined, this analysis and information enables the reader to identify the competitive advantages of the most successful providers as well as learn more about their structure and position within the market.

The freight forwarding activities of DSV have been profiled by Ti within the report. Its acquisition of UTi has propelled the business upwards within each of the five top 20 rankings available in the report: Top 20 freight forwarders by revenue, top 20 air freight forwarders by revenue and tonnage, and top 20 sea freight forwarders by revenue and TEUs. Given the company's acquisitions activity over the past three years, which have brought the operations of SBS Worldwide, Airmar Cargo, Swift, and most significantly, UTi under its control, there is huge opportunity for the company. Conversely, however, this could be a threat. UTi spend millions of dollars and many years in an attempt to connect its internal systems, and now DSV faces the challenge of linking this architecture with its own systems. This could cause the company to struggle to fully leverage its size and buying power as a freight forwarder, as coordinating its varied businesses may present difficulties.

This report is perfect for

  • Global manufacturers
  • Banks and financial institutions
  • Supply chain managers and directors
  • Logistics procurement managers
  • Marketing managers
  • Knowledge managers
  • Investors
  • All C-level executives

Contact our sales team

If you would like to know more about the report, please call Michael Clover on 01666 519907 or download a sample of the report below.