1. On April 15, Cainiao Network Technology Co., Ltd. announced that its global supply chain services would directly pick up goods from 134 ports in 33 countries and regions around the world, and realize the direct delivery of overseas goods from the place of origin to China.
Cainiao said that there are already more than 400 international brands using this service, the average timeliness increased by 5-10 days and the average cost savings of 10%. It said that Nestlé, ALDI, Metro, Chemist Warehouse, Shiseido had become the first users of its global supply chain.
Sun Wei, head of Cainiao’s global supply chain, said that last year Alibaba announced a five-year goal of importing 200 billion US dollars. To achieve this goal, Cainiao will provide merchants with more refined supply chain management.
Twings’ view:
Cainiao’s global supply chain service is essentially the door-to-door service of the freight forwarding industry, and it is still in the port-to-door stage. However, the big trees are so cool, and with the flow of Ali, Cainiao can tie the companies around the world who want to sell online in China. Still, I am not optimistic, because the experience of Ali’s international logistics is limited.
2. Liu Qiangdong* issued a message late at night, claiming that the reason for Jingdong Logistics to adjust the salary structure of the distribution staff and cancel the basic salary is to increase significantly the commission of order receiving, thus to improve the overall operational efficiency.
Liu Qiangdong revealed that Jingdong Logistics had a loss of more than 2.3 billion yuan in 2018, which was the 12th consecutive year of losses. If deducting internal settlement (Jingdong Retail’s internal orders), the actual total loss exceeded 2.8 billion yuan. The message raised a colossal uproar.
It is the first time that Liu Qiangdong publicly disclosed the financial status of Jingdong Logistics. The core reason is that the external quantity is too small and the internal cost is too high.
Twings’ view:
The logistics industry is a traditional industry. If Jingdong relies solely on the concept of e-commerce or its business strategy is to serve other sections within the company, the loss is very reasonable. If Jingdong starts only with salary, it will fall into a vicious circle. If the wages of the staff lowered, it will lead to an increase in the turnover rate of the team, which will worsen the logistics service. In turn, it affects the experience of Jingdong online shopping.
*Liu Qiangdong, also known as Richard Liu, is a Chinese Internet entrepreneur. He is the founder of JD.com or Jingdong Mall, one of the leading e-commerce industry leader in China.
3. Japan in a hurry! A large number of routes will be suspended from ports because of Japan’s coming extended holiday of 10 days.
It is reported that Japan will hold a grand ceremony on April 30th and May 1st to celebrate the abdication of the emperor and the new emperor’s ascension, plus the traditional Japanese “Golden Week” vacation in late April and early May – the holiday of ten days come. The shipping company’s routes affected by the “ten consecutive holidays” have also undergone significant adjustments! In the next two weeks, many shipping companies will suspend or cancel the call of certain ports in Japan.
Twings’ view:
The automation of the shipping industry seems to be a bit far away, but this day will come. At that time, I don’t know if the international freight forwarding industry is dying or nirvana, only to say: God knows.
4. Anhui: Integration of Port and Shipping Resources Opens Bigger Channel
According to the Anhui Daily News, at 9 a.m. on April 16, with the “Renhe Conveyor 68” container ship leaving Hefei Port in the whistle, the daily operation of the “port and shipping bus” was opened, which had been expected by those provincial enterprises between Hefei Port and Wuhu Port for many years. It is a significant move launched by Anhui Province after the promotion of the integration of port and shipping resources and the establishment of the provincial port and shipping group. This faster and more efficient international cargo transportation channel has created new competitive advantages for the province’s enterprises in exploring the foreign and domestic markets.
Twings’ view:
The mode of multimodal transport is blooming all over China. The original containers exported from Anhui are directly transported by truck to the terminal in Shanghai, which is very expensive. However, by using natural rivers or existing artificial canals for river and sea transport, it will immediately reduce inland costs and help reduce costs. More importantly, these inland river transports can boost employment and bring a lot of GDP growth to supporting facilities such as Anhui’s terminals. As the hinterland of the Yangtze River Delta, Anhui will make a more significant use to the shipping channel of the Yangtze River.
5. The National Development and Reform Commission will work with relevant departments to further reduce the logistics cost of the real economy.
Yuan Da, director of the Policy Research Office of NDRC and spokesperson, said that on April 3, the State Council executive meeting identified several new tax reduction and fee reduction measures, which will further reduce the burden on enterprises and the masses.
To this end, NDRC and relevant departments, focusing on energy, logistics, telecommunications, and other vital areas, will study and propose critical measures to reduce the charges of enterprises in 2019, it is expected that the burden of more than 270 billion yuan will be decreased for enterprises and the masses. Among them, there are six specific measures in reducing transportation and logistics costs.
The fifth measure is clear: to guide and urge the international liner company to reduce terminal operation fees and documentary surcharges.
Twings’ view:
We have always disagreed that in this era of big data, shipping companies are still charging so-called document fees. A bill of lading has to charge 450RMB, which is merely a considerable profit. What’s even more incredible is that the express release is only instruction in the shipping company system so that their personnel at the port of destination can release the goods, and they even charge from 100RMB to 500RMB. These fees are too high, and we should welcome relevant government departments to supervise or urge the reduction of these costs.
