By Benny Lim.    Photo：Pankaj Mishra

Supply chain logistics demand is huge

As one of the important forms of the transportation market, liquid transportation involves a wide range of transportation products, including food and beverages, biological oils, chemical oils, and non-hazardous chemicals. At present, the main methods of liquid transportation on the market are TANK transportation, tank truck transportation, and flexitank transportation service.

New logistics model

Traditional transportation modes such as tanks and iron drums have certain limitations, and the transportation and management costs are relatively high. Compared with conventional packaging and transportation methods, the flexitank transportation mode can significantly reduce the cost of liquid cargo packaging and improve logistics efficiency. In the future, flexitank transportation will become the main new driving force for liquid transportation

Flexitank is the most suitable packaging method for liquid containerized transportation, especially for multimodal transportation. Liquid cargo can be directly pumped into the flexitank from the storage tank, eliminating the manual work of palletizing and container loading at the origin; after the container arrives at the destination, the liquid cargo can be unloaded into the storage tank through pumps and pipelines, eliminating the need for manual unloading and warehouse management. By simplifying the workflow of delivery and arrival at both ends, and using flexitank to transport liquid goods, it can effectively simplify the bulk liquid logistics supply chain, improve the overall operation efficiency of the supply chain, and reduce logistics costs.

As flexitank transport is still in the developmental stage. The flexitank manufacturers in the market are uneven, and there is no industry standard, which leads to different flexitank quality and paving standards, resulting in liquid leakage incidents. In addition, the various links of flexitank logistics and transportation are scattered and the operation process is cumbersome, which increases the transportation cost and logistics timeliness of customers.

To this end, cargo owners can look for professional freight forwarders to provide a safer, more economical, and more convenient supply chain logistics and transportation mode. Some freight forwarders can even provide basic guarantees as follows:

1. High standard of security

The flexitank manufacturer has passed the global COA certification, in addition to China's CRCC and FSSC22000 food safety system certification, fully in line with the US FDA, EU and other food safety management requirements

2. Large-scale transportation guarantee

The routes cover all major ports and terminals in the country, and the newly launched flexitank line products have radiated to most areas of the country, while providing customers with stable and sufficient containers to meet the large-scale transportation of liquid products.

3. Provide multimodal transport door-to-door service

The new flexitank transportation provides related services such as flexitank, flexitank paving, and short truck barge at both ends, creating an end-to-end full supply chain transportation product for flexitank containers. Through sea-rail combined transportation, logistics costs and transportation time are further reduced, and customer transportation experience is improved

4. Convenience guarantee of digital services

Through the digital platform of freight forwarding, PC terminal + mobile APP terminal can query and place orders, and establish a cargo tracking system. Connect with the customer's factory production system, share information such as in-plant inventory, in-transit transportation, and container waiting ports for production materials, and provide all-round guarantee services.

The below is the feedback from China and Southeast Asia branches

Sea Freight in Shenzhen: 

The good news is Shenzhen ports had closed for two days, but now it's functioning normally. It was closed because of a typhoon. The bad news of this week is that the sea freight price hasn't gone up yet.  

Yantian and Shekou ports eased the restrictions, the ETB-7 is now changed to 10 days. 

Air Freight in Shenzhen: 

There aren't a lot of needs currently and the air freight price remains the same as last week.  

Ningbo

Beilun ports and the CFS warehouses in Ningbo is back to normal functioning. Drivers are required to do a PCR every 24 hours and apply for health safety clearance. All that hassles need to be done and reviewed before going to the loading area one day in advance. The American sea rate is still dropping as we speak.

Air Freight in Shanghai: 

Comparing to last week, the sea freight cost to the USA hasn't gone up but dropping down. The upside of this week is that the functionality of pick-up in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai is back to regular.

Qingdao

The American line rate is consistently dropping, and warehouse is still full. Even with the current situation, the drivers of the shipping company are still required to provide a proof of PCR within 48 hours. Furthermore, the drivers need to use an app to make a reservation before going to the LCL warehouses.

Dalian 

In the transit aspect, for the drivers to use the highway, they will be required to provide a tested the PCR report within 48 hours. And in the import aspect, going to the loading the area, drivers also will be required to provide a tested the PCR report within 48 hours. To make things more difficult, they also need to wear a protective clothing and a surgical mask.

Vietnam 

Warehouses in high demand towards year end The demand for warehousing space is increasing dramatically as consumers' purchasing power is hiking up as the year comes to a close. Cushman & Wakefield, a global commercial real estate services company, reported that the occupancy rates for warehouses in HCM City and Hà Nội reached 90 per cent in the first two quarters of 2022.

The rates are expected to hit 100 per cent in the following months as retailers have begun to fill their warehouses ahead of late-year peak sales.

As the demand for warehousing space is on the rise amid tight supply, rental rates are soaring. Some firms have had to use townhouses as a substitute for warehouses even though the former is not cut out for cold storage. It is said the deployment of robots, drones and sensor systems would considerably improve inventory management and fire safety in warehouses.

They also underscored the tight supply of professional warehouses as a great opportunity for firms to invest in ready-built warehouses to pick up the slack.

Thailand

Thailand as a host of APEC 2022 starts from December 2021 to November 2022.  The Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a regional economic forum with 21 member economies across Asia-Pacific region.  Its main goal is to promote the liberalization of trade and investment. The cooperation in social dimensions and other developments, in which in 2022, Thailand is a host the APEC Conference through this year. Including the upcoming APEC Leader’s Summit will be held from November 18-19, 2022. 

Over the past three decades, from 1990 to 2020, the value of international investment within APEC members has increased from 45.2% to 67.9% together with this continuous expansion of investment. This is a result of economic cooperation such as APEC, which emphasizes cooperation in the development of trade facilitation such as the reduction and abolition of non-tariff trade measures. Thailand is one of APEC founding members in 1989. APEC has its core value on promotion regional economic integration under a non-legally binding manner and friendly environment.

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