The impact of container development trends on modern logistics
The international container transportation market has experienced half a century of development and has become mature. With the initial formation of the economic globalization pattern, future container shipping The transportation market will show the following development trends.
Transportation volume will still grow at a relatively high rate
At present, the proportion of bulk cargo containers on major international routes has reached a considerable height, with 15,000 to 20,000 tons of bulk cargo containerized. General cargo ships have been largely eliminated, while the full container fleet has grown rapidly. Although the proportion of containerization is now very high, the room for growth is limited, and the future development trend of light, thin, and small commodities will reduce the elasticity coefficient of transportation volume. However, with the growth of international trade, the growth rate of trade volume will be higher than The economy is growing at a faster rate, so the total volume of container-fitting goods will not decrease. In addition, the use of containers is rapidly expanding. For example, in refrigerated cargo transportation, refrigerated containers have replaced refrigerated ships as the dominant player, and the proportion is still expanding; the proportion of tank containers for liquid chemical raw materials is rising; some traditional bulk or bare transport Goods such as grain and square lumber have begun to be transported in containers; special containers for cars have also been launched. All these will stimulate rapid growth in container shipping volume.
The carrying capacity of large-scale ships has further increased
At present, the biggest feature of the international container shipping market in terms of capacity supply is that many large container liner companies are competing to order post-Panamax container ships. Judging from the delivery volume of new ships in recent years, it reached 524,000 TEU in 2000 and approximately 558,000 TEU in 2001 (the highest level in history). It will still be at the peak of delivery this year. Among these new ships, 69 post-Panamax ships totaling 394,000 TEU were delivered from 2000 to 2002. For example, full-container ships of more than 6,000 TEU from Maersk Sea-Land and China Railway have begun to operate. These The speed of the new ships is more than 24 knots, which is about 5 knots higher than the speed of container ships around the 1980s. The design plan for the currently constructed 12,000 to 15,000 TEU full container ships has been launched, and construction technical obstacles have been basically eliminated. "Big Mac" container ships are about to emerge.
Liner company alliances will enter a new stage
The wave of alliances that swept the global liner industry at the end of the 20th century will continue to develop in the new century. There are two types of alliances between liner companies. One is alliances that do not involve capital, such as joint opening of routes, mutual leasing of container spaces, and terminal use. The other is a combination with capital as the link, such as mergers and consolidations, etc. Although there are currently more alliances of the former type, since no capital is involved, competition will be intensified to a certain extent due to the enhancement of product exclusiveness, and this alliance cannot reduce competition. It is difficult for institutions and personnel to gain scale advantages, but alliances with capital as a link can overcome the above disadvantages.
What is even more concerning is that the parent company of Danish Maersk, the Moller Group, invested US$800 million to acquire the American Sea-Land Company. The Maersk Sea-Land Company formed after the acquisition is a company with 250 container ships. It is a giant shipping company with a capacity of 550,000 TEU (accounting for 11% of the global container fleet). After years of practice, Maersk and Sealand have realized that a union with capital as the link is the real union. Based on this, some experts even believe that in the near future, the international container shipping market will be monopolized by a few oligarchs.
Liner companies are involved in port development logistics
In the new century, liner companies will continue to transform into third-party logistics providers and accelerate the transformation process. Since large liner companies are almost all global carriers and their branches are spread across several continents, it is very convenient to organize logistics operations locally. Moreover, liner transportation is the link with the longest circulation time and the highest cost among all links in the logistics chain, and its investment is also the largest. These are the advantages of liner companies engaged in logistics operations. Liner companies often start their logistics operations by operating ports, because liner companies have the closest relationship with ports, and it is more convenient to integrate with other links through ports. At the same time, engaging in the development and operation of the port industry can improve the quality of liner services and reduce port fees, thus improving its own competitiveness.
In addition, ports are the best choice for building logistics centers. Liner companies can start from developing and operating port industries to transform ports into logistics centers. Moreover, after the liner companies are united, their strength has been strengthened, the supply of goods is more guaranteed, and the port industry has more support. The container shipping market is oversupplied and the market risks are relatively high. In order to spread risks and improve efficiency, liner companies are engaged in diversified operations, and diversified operations often start from the extension of the main business.
The port industry is exactly what liner companies do The beginning of the extension.
International shipping will enter the electronic information era
With the rapid development of network technology, the shipping information technology revolution has also entered a new stage. Due to the rapid development of the Internet economy, customer needs are shifting from physical transactions to virtual transactions with the development of e-commerce, that is, the satisfaction of physical needs is completed through online transactions. Based on the global Internet, integrating logistics and information flows in all aspects of the customer supply chain and constructing a customer-oriented virtual comprehensive network will become one of the important means for shipping companies to obtain management value-added benefits in the new century.
Developing my country’s container transportation: the road is at your feet
1. Our government should improve transportation laws and regulations and establish a legal environment for the shipping market.
In countries with complete market economies and developed shipping in the world, their shipping management systems are all aimed at a unified market. For example, in terms of international shipping, the United States has its Department of Transportation as the research and decision-making body for shipping strategies. It has also established a high-level Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), which is responsible for investigating illegal and irregular behaviors in the shipping market. , supervision and penalties to protect the country’s shipping interests and is a powerful law enforcement agency. Another example is the government transportation authorities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and some European countries. In addition to setting up industry policy research and decision-making departments, they also set up relatively large inspection and supervision agencies to ensure the implementation of relevant shipping laws and regulations. This is worthy of our government's consideration and the establishment of a strong law enforcement agency in a timely manner.
my country’s shipping management system must be reformed quickly. The state should strengthen macro-control and use economic means such as credit, finance, and subsidies to focus on supporting the country's large-scale port and shipping enterprises so that they can form large-scale operations as soon as possible and enhance their international competitiveness; at the same time, they should promulgate regulations such as the "Port Law" and "Shipping Law" as soon as possible. ", "Shipping Law", "Crew Law", "International Maritime Regulations" and other important laws and regulations that regulate the shipping market, improve the traffic law enforcement supervision system, reduce subjective and arbitrary interference, and improve the awareness of compliance with laws and regulations in the entire industry. Strict the market access system, prevent local duplication of investment, prohibit any regional, industrial, and departmental interference through legislation, eliminate local "separation" situations as soon as possible, and establish a nationwide, unified, and fair competition Big market.
Government authorities should strengthen their service functions, think and deal with problems with the mentality of serving port and shipping enterprises, strive to do practical things for enterprises, and provide assistance from macro guidance and auxiliary services, such as dynamic balance and appropriateness. Being ahead of the curve is a strategic orientation, scientifically predicting the medium- and long-term development trends of supply and demand changes in the shipping market, such as total supply and demand, structural changes, and distribution, and publishing them publicly through appropriate channels to provide scientific decision-making support for my country's port and shipping enterprises.
2. my country's container shipping companies should adjust their business strategies.
Facing the trend of booming container transportation market and increasingly fierce global competition, first of all, my country's large container transportation enterprises should take the path of scale operation. The development trend of the international shipping industry is that shipping companies tend to be centralized internally and to unite externally. Therefore, my country's shipping companies should also actively participate in shipping alliances to adapt to this trend, establish a global container liner transport fleet, and establish a global carrier. status. Domestically, the domestic transportation network should be further improved to better serve cargo owners. Since we are taking the road of scale, we might as well come up with a bold idea.
The state will first merge some local small businesses that operate container shipping businesses with large container shipping companies, and then use these small businesses to operate local container shipping businesses. The network is engaged in business. On the one hand, this can increase the supply of goods and expand the coverage of the transportation network. On the other hand, it can also resist the penetration of foreign liner companies in my country's inland and increase market share. Then the three largest shipping companies in China, COSCO, China Shipping, and Sinotrans, were merged to form a Chinese aircraft carrier in the shipping industry with capital as a link. This way, the superior resources of each company can be comprehensively utilized to avoid internal strife and maximize profits. At the same time, part of the cost reduction due to scale can be passed on to cargo owners, thereby further enhancing competitive advantages.
Secondly, we should accelerate the transformation of my country's shipping companies into comprehensive logistics services and engage in diversified operations. The increasingly competitive international shipping market indicates to us that it is difficult for shipping companies to continue to develop relying on a single shipping business. Therefore, it is inevitable to adjust and expand the service scope of shipping companies. As the third source of profits, the logistics service industry has become a new economic growth point for shipping companies by virtue of value-added services. The transformation of a state-owned shipping enterprise into a modern large-scale global logistics service enterprise is a huge project, and strategies must be formulated according to its own situation. You can try to start by developing logistics business in cargo distribution centers in various places, increase the development of domestic and foreign trade logistics services, and actively cooperate with ports. You can even invest in port construction, because ports are an important node in the logistics supply chain and provide the entire logistics supply for the future. to lay the foundation for chain services, and at the same time seek to establish logistics alliances with domestic large and medium-sized enterprises at home and abroad. In the early stage, foreign investment can be introduced, cooperation with foreign logistics companies with advanced experience can be learned, and advanced logistics concepts and experiences can be learned to lay the foundation for independent development in the future. Only in this way can our shipping companies seize opportunities, meet challenges, and gradually move towards the development trend of integrated logistics services. As we all know, the shipping industry is a relatively risky industry. If we develop the fleet while also developing land-based industries, it is indeed a good way to spread risks. COSCO Group is a good example. At that time, COSCO put forward the slogan "Go to sea, land and go to sky". While actively developing maritime transportation, it also operated land transportation and air transportation, as well as IT industry and real estate, all of which achieved great success.
Thirdly, the development of e-commerce should be accelerated.
E-commerce applications developed based on the Internet have become a powerful promoter of economic growth. Therefore, my country's shipping companies must now build an international transportation system based on Internet technology, with flexible service methods, comprehensive and diverse transportation methods, and coordinated development with the environment. Provide a fast, safe, efficient, accessible and convenient logistics and transportation information service network to form an accessible, integrated, efficient, flexible and mobile transportation system to improve the international competitiveness of enterprises.
Finally, we must pay attention to talents. State-owned shipping enterprises should formulate corresponding strategies focusing on retaining talents, attracting talents, cultivating talents, and utilizing talents. On this basis, we will further improve the training and use of talents and thoroughly establish a talent strategy system for state-owned shipping enterprises.