Having been intimately involved with the South Pacific market for 45 years, I see a trend taking place in Australia and New Zealand that reminds me of the halcyon days of the 1960s and 1970s where swashbuckling entrepreneurs saw great opportunities in international forwarding. In those two countries, I see a change taking place that is nearing an about turn for the large multinationals. Small nimble forwarders are securing business from major shippers who once were the prized domain of the multinationals.
In New Zealand, indigenous privately owned Mondiale has become the country’s largest international forwarder boasting a client list of a veritable “Who’s Who” in New Zealand commerce. Across the ditch in Australia, Australian Groupage Services has been growing exponentially over the past 15 years. The next rung down of local midsize forwarders is enjoying unprecedented growth. Why? The customer at the end of the day wants personal service, where the phone is answered by a real voice, or an email reply that has a name and direct line contact number.
Recently, DHL announced it had been hit by a 30 percent decline in hard air freight volumes and there was concern that 2016 revenue would not look good. While international trade has been very patchy over the last year or so, the overall volume declines are not huge, and that is particularly so in air freight. I believe just as has been the case with international transportation trends in Australia and New Zealand, the larger local forwarders are grabbing market share like they have never done in years. Their model fits the new demands of the shipper.
Big is no longer beautiful. Steamship lines and airlines are spreading their bets by offering the same competitive pricing to smaller forwarders to keep growing their business at the expense of the multinational. This trend will gather more momentum in 2016.
Julian Keeling, CEO, Consolidators International