Cogoport comes to rescue the Logistics Industry

Logistics, Cross-Border Trade and various Government intrusions

A lot of conversation is going around the involvement of the government in the shipping processes. The US government is working on centralizing the process and making provisions to review applications for new alliances for anti-trust issues. The White House released a statement which talked about an agreement between the Department of Justice & Federal Maritime Commission. Simultaneously, industry experts, shipping companies and the public have also started to share their opinions. Regulators from the U.S., the European Union and China determined there was no evidence of anti-competitive behaviour in container shipping. While shipping companies disagree and put the entire blame on COVID-19, a consensus from farmers and shippers does give an idea about the unfair practices and excessively high charges these shipping lines charge. The government intrusion will bring everyone on a level playing field but the actual effect is still unclear.

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New Plans in Budget by Indian Government

Along the similar lines, the Indian government has announced the “Gati Shakti Masterplan” which includes various facilities and provisions, like expressways and cargo terminals, which will give a big boost to new warehousing and logistics facilities across the country. Investment and Digitalization are the primary needs in this sector.

Pertaining to all this, the government is making amendments in the process and making their role bigger. Indian Budget also included the plan for making a Unified Logistics Interface Platform. This is being planned to reduce logistics costs and time, eliminate tedious documentation, and ensure just-in-time management and effective movement of goods. To break the opaque image of the industry, the budget also mentions the need to do procurements through a paperless and end-to-end e-bill system.

Logistics and its limitations

LogisticsExperts say that the shipping companies have reduced competition by being cooperative amongst themselves and making the market power concentrated which helps them in dictating prices, charging a late fee, and hence leaving no margins for the seller, especially SMEs. According to the UN, the Trade knowledge and execution gap have widened and prevented trade which could have happened from $1.5 trillion to $3.4 trillion annually. Several opinions by Shipping Companies, Economists, and farmers have been surfaced which blames COVID, High Demand - Low Supply, and shipping Lines respectively. Apart from this issue, there are several other problems that have been ever-present like Non-Digitalization, Non-Transparency, etc.

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Why are SMEs suffering the most?

These are the issues faced by all the players in the business and SMEs are affected the most. Even before COVID, Bigger Banks & other FSI players have been reluctant to invest time and focus on these smaller companies and accounts. Trade financing and support are always readily available for the big players in the industry and SMEs have less or more expensive options. This makes trade complex, expensive and risky for them. Even worse, many a time the ocean liners do not even wait for the farmers to get their products loaded. As per a 2018 survey, held by OECD SME Ministerial ConferencePlenary Session, 63% of the SMEs identified “Finding Business Partners” as the top barrier they face in trade. All these practices are only making it more difficult for the small players to survive. A global trade platform would be the only plausible solution to get every player on a level playing field.

The need for a Global Trade Platform

Now while the government and shipping companies' alliance may improve the situation, it is neither an instant solution nor a guaranteed one. This is where Cogoport comes to the rescue! We are also in line with the government about the issues SMEs are facing in shipments.

We cater to all sorts of companies and target specifically SMEs. We do this by educating and demystifying International Trade to SMEs and new entrants with the help of trade insights and advisories. Our users can get better control over their supply chain by planning shipments ahead of time and having better real-time visibility in their ongoing shipments. Our Trade Platform is offering to ease the overall hassle in import-export. We aim this by starting to bring transparency to this opaque industry. The entire ecosystem is connected by our platform and a team of experts who manage shipments from start to finish for our customers and channel partners, providing the best user experience to both the demand and supply sides while maintaining transparency and confidence. Our newly launched scheme Ship Now & Pay Later, a Data & Service Integration, helps to lower the risk and enables the SMEs to grow cross-border trade and scale their business.

All that the government is doing is going to benefit and make the otherwise complicated process of Logistics approachable for all and sustainable to the environment. Additionally, to ensure a hassle-free experience such Global Trade Platforms also prove to be a great alternative.

Facing Challenges in Shipping? Try Cogoport. You can drop your enquires at team.cogoport@mail.cogoport.com

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