Shipping feels the heat of geopolitical crises

The international shipping sector has been under intense pressure over the past few years, impacted by concerns about overcapacity, volatile fuel prices, the enforcement of new environmental regulations and the challenges of digitalisation. Now, an array of geopolitical crises are looming over the industry, threatening to impact trade flows and leaving shippers uncertain of their next move.

A much-welcomed industry redress was observed in the second half of last year, after the Baltic Dry Index rose by 50% over the six-month period, and overall industry confidence hit a three-year, as analysts from the Moore Stephens shipping industry group observed.

But both old unresolved international disputes and new conflicts are contributing to an uncertain geopolitical climate, and much like a stormy sea, such forces can quickly destabilise shipping and alter trade flows.

As the London School of Economics notes, entrepreneurs, market participants and central bank officials view geopolitical risks as a key determinant of investment decisions. In 2016, 74% of CEOs of the world’s largest companies polled by PwC cited ‘geopolitical uncertainty’ as their second most important concern.

The US-China tariff stand-off

The ongoing tariff dispute between the US and China is threatening to approach a full-on trade war, with both sides imposing higher levies on billions of dollars’ worth of imports, while experts fear that the crumbling political relationship between the two superpowers might have a detrimental effect on container shipping lines.

According to geopolitical intelligence platform Stratfor, the $50bn in tariffs officially announced by the US, as well as China’s retaliation, would have put nearly 7% of the US-China container trade at risk.

However, while such tariffs would not influence the actual volume of goods being transported – as market demand isn’t necessarily affected by spur-of-the-moment political decisions – they could potentially change the direction in which goods travel. This is tricky in itself, as international trade already relies heavily on a handful of transit chokepoints that are already over capacity, and switching up these shipping lanes could cause further complications, lengthen transport times and burden shippers with additional costs.

US sanctions on Iran

The fraught relationship between the US and Iran is another source of worry for shipping insiders.

The next wave of sanctions, which will take effect in November, targets the Iranian shipping industry in particular, with companies including the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), South Shipping Line Iran, and their affiliates to be most affected. These sanctions will comprise of restrictions on providing insurance to a wide range of Iranian industries, including shipping, sanctions on Iran’s port operators, shipbuilders, and shipping lines and sanctions on petroleum-related transactions with the National Iranian Oil Company. Iran’s energy and financial sectors are also being targeted.

Even with months still to go before these sanctions are enforced, international operators have already started pulling out of Iran in anticipation, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Company have already started pulling out their cargo shipments. Meanwhile in Europe, the UK, France and Germany have emphasised they will continue their trade relationship with Iran.

Despite support from Europe, the sanctions will have global reverberations, as Iran accounts for 5% of the global output of crude oil, the majority of which goes to China, Japan, India and South Korea.

Brexit confusion leaves shippers wondering

The debacle surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) is still raging on, and while more negotiations, U-turns and much animosity are still to come, the UK shipping industry has been trying to find its bearings amid the chaos.

At the beginning of this year, Maritime UK chairman David Dingle pleaded with the government to “do this as quickly as possible because if there is no transition period the industry as a whole will be in trouble”.

This plea came after Dingle urged the development of a new customs agreement between the UK and EU in February last year, warning that “failure to secure a deal will not only see delays and disruption at ports like Dover, Holyhead and Portsmouth, but also in the EU at ports like Zeebrugge, Calais and Dublin.”

While the full impact of Brexit on shipping – from general market conditions to border controls, cabotage, ports and terminals – is still unknown, the British International Freight Association noted that “a slowdown in UK GDP will mean a slowdown in UK maritime trade”. However, in the long term, as trade agreements are negotiated with other, non-EU countries, the UK could work with those nations to open up new import sources and export destinations.

South China Sea dispute

At the crossroads between Hong Kong, the Philippines and Vietnam, the South China Sea is both a key shipping route and one of the world’s top resource regions, home to half a billion people who live within 100 miles of its coastline and rich in oil and natural gas.

But the region is also at the heart of an international territorial dispute, in which China uses the controversial ‘Nine-Dash Line’ to claim 90% of the territories in the South China Sea. This demarcation is contested by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

This is problematic, since as much as 50% of global oil tanker shipments pass through the South China Sea, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, making the waters one of the world’s busiest international sea lanes. It is also the easiest access route from Europe to Asia, with 33% of the world’s maritime traffic passing through these waters.

An escalation of this long-standing conflict took place in May, when Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to go to war over China’s attempts to exploit the area’s resources. The threat came after China placed long-range bombers on one of the disputed islands for the first time, fuelling fears that conflict is brewing.

Passing through this region, tankers carrying goods worth billions of dollars are often in hot waters: trespassing any demarcation lines would have tremendous consequences for international trade, and could even escalate to an armed conflict.

Rebels use Red Sea strait as political pawn

The acrimonious conflict between Yemen, Saudi Arabia and domestic rebel forces following a failed attempt to restore prosperity within the country after the Arab Spring led to what the UN has called “the world’s worst man-made humanitarian disaster”.

The tragedy is unfolding at one of the most strategic trade points by sea, as Yemen sits on the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, a narrow chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, which serves as the gateway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.

The fact that the strait is a critical access point for much of the world’s oil shipments is being used as a bargaining chip by Yemen’s Houthis, who since 2015 have repeatedly threatened to either attack commercial ships passing through the 18km-wide waterway, or completely block the lane.

Several countries have flagged potential armed attacks on merchant vessels as a top risk in the area and have issued guidance for those who need to pass through these waters, including advice to use armed security staff on board for protection.

A gentle reminder : Flowers for Valentine's Day generate a carbon footprint

Flowers for Valentine's Day generate a carbon footprint

Our pursuit of goodwill and affection towards humanity through the giving of cut flowers is hurting the Mother Nature

Millions of flowers are sold around the world on Valentine's Day. This contributes to carbon emissions and waste ! Last year Australians imported more than 5.22 million rose stems between Feb 1 and 14, mostly from Kenya. Assuming typical bouquets of 24 roses, that’s 217,500 bouquets sold in two weeks.

The problem is that our pursuit of goodwill and affection towards humanity through the giving of cut flowers is hurting the number one lady in all of our lives: Mother Nature.

If those 217,500 bouquets were each wrapped in 75cm of plastic cellophane, that adds up to more than 163km of plastic wrapping used in a two-week period – just for roses, just in Australia.

So this Valentine’s Day, let’s consider making smarter, more sustainable flower purchases.

PETAL POWER

In Australia alone, there are more than 900 flower farms intensively cultivating 4,470 ha in order to supply almost 2,000 florists. However, the majority of cut flowers sold in Australia actually originate overseas, with imports from Ecuador alone valued at A$1.9 million (US$1.5 million) in 2015.

If you’re asking yourself “why are delicate flowers shipped halfway around the world?” that is a great question. Countries near the Equator, like Ecuador, benefit from good growing conditions, including 12 hours of daylight all year round. In these regions, the contribution of the flower industry to the economy of small or less developed countries is often significant.

In eastern Africa, for example, flowers account for more than 10 per cent of total exports, second only to tea. Lower wages in countries like Ecuador and Kenya also contribute to the economics of flying cut flowers around the world. Unfortunately, this often comes at a cost for local growers and pickers, who experience poor working conditions.

THE THORNY CARBON ISSUE

In the United States, the roughly 100 million roses grown, shipped and purchased on a typical Valentine’s Day produce some 9,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, from field to florist.

But, as with most things in our complex and busy world, the question of a flower’s carbon footprint isn’t as straightforward as it might seem.  The Netherlands is one of the world’s biggest exporters of cut flowers, where the majority are grown in heated or refrigerated green houses.

Maintaining the controlled environmental conditions inside these buildings requires artificial light, heat and cooling, so each rose grown in the Netherlands contributes an average of around 2.91kg of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

In contrast, a single rose grown on a farm in Kenya contributes only 0.5kg.

This is largely because Kenyan hot houses do not use artificial heating or lighting, and most farm workers walk or cycle to work. As a result, flowers grown in tropical regions are sometimes considered low-carbon.

Of course, this doesn’t always factor in international transport.

PESKY PESTICIDES

As flowers are not an edible crop, they are typically exempt from regulations on pesticide use. As a result, the cut flower industry is one of the biggest consumers of pesticides worldwide.

In Kenya and other countries, chemicals such as methyl bromide and others that are banned in countries like the US are regularly imported in significant quantities by flower growers for pest control.

Worryingly, methyl bromide is an ozone-depleting substance. In some cases, run-off of these chemicals from growing fields adjacent to water bodies, such as Kenya’s Lake Naivasha, has resulted in the collapse of fish stocks that are crucial to local communities.

LET US TAKE ACTION

The good news is that there are plenty of eco-friendly ways to show your devotion.

The best option is to grow your own flowers to give as gifts.

You can also give that special someone a living plant that can grow in their garden for years to come.

If you decide to buy imported flowers, look for labels indicating that suppliers are members of regulatory schemes.

It’s also worth asking or insisting that your local florist switch from plastic cellophane wrapping to butcher’s paper (or similar environmentally friendly material).

GREEN BUSINESS IS GOOD BUSINESS – CASE STUDY

The reality that growers are facing a market that is increasingly getting concerned over unsustainable practices dawned on the industry when supermarkets stated that they will only be sourcing flowers from growers involved in sustainable practices.

n adherence to this requirement, Kenyan flower grower and exporter Oserian Development Corporation has come up with a raft of measures aimed at maintaining production over a long period of time without compromising on natural systems or its responsibility to workers, suppliers and the local communities.

As one of the largest exporters of cut roses to the European Union, Oserian has adopted a ‘champions by nature’ approach to flower growing. The company utilises the integrated pest management (IPM) system, hydroponics to reduce water and fertiliser consumption and has the world’s largest geothermal heating project for maintaining the temperature in its greenhouses and for the provision of carbon dioxide (CO2) needed by the plants.

The company has adjusted its production system to address the ongoing changes in European Union’s environmental legislation which has increased pressure on agricultural production from EU’s trade partners. “We’re seeing developments in legislation on pesticides and bee-friendly products,” says Hamish Ker, Oserian’s technical director. He adds that the EU currently measures maximum residue limits (MRL) of pesticides on vegetables and fruit imports.

The company has invested heavily in natural solutions. It has launched a new outfit called Two Lakes, to develop new biological solutions through own research or by partnering with leading IPM companies. Oserian considers investing in natural solutions as a means of improving the company’s products for lowering costs. Ker says that this makes Oserian more competitive. “Yes, we have to invest in training on how to use these unique systems, but once you have that capacity, you find that nature’s solutions are more sustainable from all perspectives. To all intents and purposes, what you’re doing is creating a balanced ecosystem on the farm.”

Initiatives to reduce carbon footprint : To further reduce its carbon footprint, the company has imported seven electric vehicles from the Netherlands. “We’re going to use them to convert our trucks from fossil fuel to electric vehicles, which we can power from our geothermal plant,” says Ker. “If the project goes well, we’ll see more electric vehicle use in the future.” “Green business is good business,” says Ker who adds that the company hopes to save on the $500,000 it uses on diesel each year.

In addition, the company has embraced a more environmentally-friendly transportation process. It has adopted a unique concept for packing flowers developed by a Nairobi-based company, Cargolite. The latter’s cardboards are strengthened with a plastic skeleton. “This means a lighter box, which saves on air freight, cardboard, and results in a reduced impact on the environment.” Ker adds that by using the new packaging system, Oserian now saves as much as $8,000 for every one million stems transported to Europe.

Support to farmers & herders: Further, the company has been supporting local farmers to develop clean seeds. “Our sister company, Stokman, has developed clean seed banana planting materials and potatoes in its labs.” Ker says that the company helps local farmers by doing soil analysis, “so that they can understand the imbalances and can apply the right fertilisers and other corrective measures.”

Oserian has been providing high-breed sheep to local herders. “We have sheep on the farm to keep the grass short around the greenhouses, which reduces the insects and the diseases.” Ker says that the company imported a pedigree breed of sheep from South Africa called the Dorper, which it crossed with the local Maasai breed. “We set aside some of the ram lambs every year and donate them to the community, to help improve their flocks.

Agility joins IBM & Maersk's blockchain project

Agility, a global third-party logistics provider, has joined IBM and Maersk's blockchain collaboration, the companies announced Tuesday.

IBM and Maersk revealed their global trade digitization platform, built on the Hyperledger Fabric 1.0 blockchain, in January. DuPont, Dow Chemical, TetraPak, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and others piloted an early version of the project.

The latest participant, Agility will share and receive information about individual shipment events through the blockchain in hopes of reducing the massive cost of administration and documentation – which reportedly accounts for one-fifth of the world's total $1.8 trillion annual shipping costs.

"Blockchain technology is going to make shipping cheaper, safer and more reliable. As early adopters, companies like Agility can help Maersk and IBM understand the needs of shippers and develop standards that will make trade more efficient," Essa Al-Saleh, CEO of Agility Global Integrated Logistics, told American Shipper.

Blockchain technology can streamline shipping by showing the status of documents like customs forms and bills of lading, thus helping to reduce the time it takes for shipments to clear inspections. Migrating shipping information onto the blockchain could also help facilitate more comprehensive risk analysis.

1+1+1 = 1 : Three Japanese carriers coming together as ONE

K Line, MOL and NYK are joining hands! They are banking their future group profitability on the success of the Ocean Network Express (ONE) – the merger of the Japanese transport groups’ respective container businesses scheduled for April.

The trio say they expect to save ¥50bn ($440m) in costs in the first fiscal year ending 31 March 2019m and thereafter ¥110bn a year.

The synergies will come from personnel consolidation, combining agencies and subsidiaries and a lowest-common-denominator-reduction strategy on port costs and service provider fees.

In their traditional New Year messages to staff today, the presidents of K Line, MOL and NYK, Eizo Murakami, Junichiro Ikeda and Tadaaki Naito, spoke of the advantages of the integration and a “turning point” for their companies.

 Feedback from shippers continues that they are being told by sales reps from the Japanese carriers that expiring contracts will be rolled over, with new deals stemmed to start from 1 April onwards.

After the merger, ONE will rank sixth in terms of global ranking by capacity with its combined 1.48m teu on 234 ships, above Evergreen’s 1.1m teu and just behind Hapag-Lloyd’s 1.56m teu. However, with a combined orderbook of some 187,000 teu, ONE could leapfrog Hapag-Lloyd, which has no ships on order.

Primary function for the new ONE ship planners will be to reduce costs by cutting out duplicated sailings, and there is likely to be a number of charter ships off-hired in due course.

Singapore will ride out the shipping storm

We may (hopefully) be seeing the green shoots of a shipping recovery, companies are still under a huge amount of pressure. Shipping is cyclical, and right now, we still seem to be on the wrong side.

Why Singapore is well-positioned to ride out the storm?It became clear that there are a number of key, long-term, strategic efforts underway to position Singapore as the shipping hub for the next 50 years. The future of the industry is looking very different and to a large degree will be dependent on a series of key developmental initiatives.

1.) Investment in technology and innovation

If there is one industry which is ripe for technological disruption, it is shipping.  Automated vessels are probably a little further off than some are predicating, but there is a lot of tech advancement to be excited about.

While vessels will have specific use-requirements (containers, bulkers, LNG carriers etc.), the technology that goes into ocean-going and onshore operations, performance monitoring, and increasing efficiencies is evolving at a rapid rate.

Listening to the ideas that are in the market, it is clear that change is in the air. The countries which can best attract tech experts, ideas, and innovators are the ones who will come out on top. Like in any competition for high-tech R&D and startups, supporting infrastructure is vital. In this regard, Singapore has invested heavily in innovation and technology—and we will continue to do so to stay ahead of the technological curve. This is the key race that needs to be won as this is the very future of shipping.

2.) Investment in education

As the shipping and offshore sectors develop and digitize, the required skillsets of current and future employees will also change. Delivering high quality, industry-relevant, education will be vital to meeting the needs of business. Singapore was recently named one of the top five national education providers and the academic infrastructure is already in place to meet the needs of the industry.

The maritime education qualifications provided by the government are already being expanded and internationalized to attract high-quality students. This is not something that is easily or quickly replicated by other countries, and positions Singapore strongly as the leading source of operations and managerial leaders.

3.) Investment in people

Although only sporadically covered in the shipping trade, the shipping industry has some major demographic issues. Decades of simply ignoring the need for the industry to have an employment brand strong enough to compete for the best talent (or second best, or third…) means a rapidly ageing workforce won't be replaced easily. Getting people into the sector is critical to the ongoing development of the local industry. The Singapore government has put in place a number of measures to provide pathways into the sector and to promote shipping as a viable career. We are attractive and will continue to be so.

4.) Government and institutional support

The Singapore government's continued support for the shipping and offshore sectors is key to Singapore retaining its position as a maritime leader. Countries like Singapore, China, and even Greece have made a strategic decision to develop the industry as an economic priority. The above points all need state support in one form or another. Additionally, tax incentives, rule of law, and investment in infrastructure are all crucial to keeping Singapore on the shipping map. All efforts are currently in place in this little island (government, regulatory, as well as private sector) to maintain our status as a leading shipping hub.

Here, again, Singapore comes out on top. If we gaze into the foggy future, and autonomous vessels are indeed commonplace, where will these ships be run from? Huge datacentre, satellite, and telco facilities will be needed. Software development and cybersecurity services will be part of day-to-day business.

For Singapore, what shipping looks like may be less vessels in the anchorage (but maybe not), but this may not be the future of shipping. As Singapore well knows, being a leader means making bold strategic decisions, driving what the future is going to look like, and providing the resources to achieve this.

The Singapore maritime sector is changing. And it has to because the future of shipping will be different. Our critics will, no doubt, point out every local company struggling, and cheer on new ports in Malaysia and Silk Roads; but this is just the ebb and flow of business-as-usual. Singapore is looking ahead, and is well placed to lead the future of the shipping industry

Higher demand for Backhaul on China – Europe spurs new services

Higher demand for Backhaul on China – Europe spurs new services

Huge investments in rail infrastructure, improved cooperation between the railways, relocation of production facilities to inland locations, growing trade between China and C.I.S. countries, and increased environmental awareness make rail transportation a viable transport option. Rail nowadays offers highly competitive solutions even to companies with very high demands on speed, reliability and safety. Therefore a growing number of electronics, automotive, industrial and consumer goods companies use the respective service.

For shipments between China and Europe rail fills the wide cost and lead time gap between air and ocean transport and is particularly attractive to companies with high value cargo or shipments between inland locations. In addition, it is the environmentally most friendly transport mode. For shipments between China and Russia as well as Central Asia rail often offers by far the best solution in terms of lead time and pricing

Backhaul demand: the game changer

The momentum that has been developing steadily on the rail freight link between China and Europe is spreading to the backhaul route with eastbound volumes rising sharply in the past year, according to DHL Global Forwarding.

DHL Global Forwarding has even opened a China rail competence center in the German city of Stuttgart to handle the increasing demand and now operates seven rail services a week between Germany and China.

“Rail freight volumes between Germany and Asia have increased 10-fold in just one year,” said Volker Oesau, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding Germany and Central Europe. This has required the expansion of its Stuttgart operation to primarily provide support to German customers in the automotive, technology, mechanical engineering, and retail sectors.

The 7,500-mile rail route connects 16 cities in China with 15 cities in Europe with forwarders building the mode into their regular services offered on the Asia-Europe trade and are now starting to do the same on the return journey. Trains of more than 40 wagons follow either the trans-Kazakh western corridor or the trans-Siberian northern corridor, connecting with the dense network of rail hubs in China, and linking with Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea.

DHL’s Stuttgart center will provide the multi-modal solutions required for the end-to-end transport processes such as collection, export, and transit formalities; the Euro-Asian rail service; customs clearance in the land of arrival; and delivery by truck or combined rail transport.

Challenges for the container train services

Challenges for service providers on the route include tracking and tracing the containers and ensuring their security. With such vast distances being traveled through remote areas, and multiple gauge changes en route, maintaining the integrity of the cargo is a key factor. DHL said track and trace and temperature information was available and its team was also developing tailored security concepts for high quality goods.

Simplified Customs Procedures

Customs procedures have been simplified with the introduction of the standardized CIM/SMGS waybill — international conventions that apply in Eastern Europe and Asia to the international carriage of passengers and goods by rail — and has minimized the administrative effort required at border crossing points.

The CIM/SMGS document is recognized by customs authorities and facilitates faster clearance of goods transport. The waybill can be used for wagon load traffic and combined transport, and improves the flow of documents at border crossings between two legal jurisdictions.

Less-than-container-load (LCL) shipments are expanding rapidly on the headhaul and backhaul China-Europe rail trades, opening up the routes to a much wider customer base. DHL Railconnect is an LCL service that the forwarder started in 2016 that uses the German rail hub of Duisburg, and in February, Kuehne + Nagel launched its KN Eurasia Express LCL service for shipments heading westbound and eastbound.

Otto Schacht, member of the management board of Kuehne + Nagel International responsible for sea freight, said with transit times of between 14 and 18 days from departure to destination terminal, delivery times were much faster than maritime transport and at lower costs compared with airfreight.

German logistics provider Dachser has also begun to offer a weekly scheduled LCL service connecting Wuhan with Hamburg with fixed weekly departures.

DB Schenker’s pioneering efforts

A pioneer in the development of block trains between China and Europe was German forwarder DB Schenker that started operating regular block trains eastbound and westbound in 2011 with FCL and LCL shipments.

DB Schenker was involved in bringing the first train from China to London in January, taking charge of the locomotive on the Duisburg to London leg via the Channel Tunnel. In the test run, the train originated in Yiwu in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang and reached London in around 18 days, making it twice as fast as transport by sea. The train was loaded mainly with textiles and other consumer goods.

A record number of containers, around 40,000, were transported by train along the legendary Silk Road in 2016, according to DB Schenker, which expects the volume to increase to more than 100,000 containers by 2020. Some estimates put the 2020 prediction as high as 500,000 TEU, with concerns being raised that congestion at key points, such as rail gauge change stops, could become a problem.

The AirBnB of warehousing

Thanks to new technologies, traditional businesses have been revolutionised, for example the hotel industry and temporary housing industry with AirBnB. The same concept is now being applied to warehousing by a Seattle based start-up named Flexe. It is a cloud based platform that connects organizations that need warehousing space to organizations with extra space.

Technology enablers

Multi-user warehouse have been owned by 3PL for long, but as for today, there is no tailor-made, highly flexible warehousing service offer for a company willing to pay. By focusing on profitable service offer (transshipment, picking, order preparation) rather than on stock holding would probably enable new offers to emerge.

With fast e-commerce development to be expected, related logistic needs will become more common, such as same-day deliveries and highly flexible charge. More and more retailers want to go online, but don’t always have the necessary operational knowledge. The new wave of multi-user warehouses will have to address these needs and likely focus on high-turnover items. Economies of scale and good optimisation can allow to locate new high-turnover, multi-user warehouses near the cities, to massify last-mile deliveries and reduce their distance.

This new warehousing offer could attract small e-commerce retailers who don’t have their own facility, companies that want extra-fast delivery for a special offer or expect a high demand for promotional and featured items.

Flexe : the AirBnB of warehousing

In less than five years, Flexe has created a marketplace of spare storage space in 550 warehouses, quickly establishing better geographic coverage than the vast delivery network that Amazon.com Inc. spent decades and billions building. Flexe did it without spending a nickel on facilities and already has 25 million square feet of storage, about 25 percent of Amazon’s capacity, and expects to add 10 million square feet this year. Merchants book storage space via a simple-to-navigate website; Flexe is essentially the AirBnB of warehousing.

Flexe approach

Shoppers' accelerating shift online is straining warehouse space around the U.S., pushing the vacancy rate to the lowest level in 17 years. Flexe is tapping into an inventory of unused space that doesn't show up in the vacancy measure. That space is tied up in long-term contracts, but much of it goes unused for months at a time. Beverage companies and home-improvement stores build warehouses with capacity for the summer months when their business peaks, leaving them with extra space the rest of the year. Warehouses operated by Halloween costume wholesalers empty out just as the holiday shopping season hits and most retailers need more space. Flexe is arbitraging the mismatch between supply and demand, taking a commission for each transaction.

Today, the company has 200 partners. Iron Mountain, which provides document storage for financial, legal, healthcare and government clients, signed on with Flexe two years ago to sell extra space in its 1,000 facilities in 90 markets.

Final thoughts

New players like Flexi have succeeded in bringing collaborative economy to warehousing. Flexe has redefined the warehousing industry by finding spare warehouse space for e-commerce merchants, and is now set to offer overnight delivery all over the U.S.

Going forward, new entrants like Flexe will be the market maker in warehousing space. These players will certify new warehouse providers that want to list their services, provide for standard business terms, prescribe an operational system that provides warehouse management capabilities, bill the customers on behalf of the warehouse operators, collect the fees (inclusive of a markup to pay for their services), and monitor transactions to ensure customers are getting quality service.