Well after a couple of months rush replenishment amid rounds (and potentially more) of tariff hike and unexpected retail sales drop since 2009, U.S. wholesale inventory increased by the most in December, as reported by the commerce department on Monday.
However, replenishment is never meant to be stopped.
Many shippers are now switching to a modest approach i.e. slowing down the volume or slowing down the shipping speed, to obtain a healthy inventory status without piling-up or running out of stock, before summer sales season.
Looking at main cargo origin in Asia, China remains the biggest origin on TP east bound while at the same time, Vietnam and India are gaining extra share from China on certain products due to advantage in sourcing cost and trading policy, for instance, garment, toys and furniture.
As one freight forwarder, we have been constantly following market trend and export activity in Asia and are always keen in developing new products that fit the ever growing demands across the region. To cope with sourcing strategy of our small and medium size customers who are now becoming more in favor of developing a long-tail SKU profile with small shipping order from various Asian manufacturing origin, we have recently launched our “Asia LCL program” aiming at providing a versatile one-stop solution.
By having this program in place, our customer could get an instant end-to-end price along with transit time indication for LCL shipment on selective shipping route. This shall enable our customer to plan ahead in sourcing decision making by taking into account shipping cost and delivery lead time from different Asian cargo origin, when there are more than one manufacturers on the list.
Compared to the up-and-downs in FCL ocean shipping rate, the cost of LCL shipment (perfectly used for shipment within 4 Tons or 3 cbm) is rather predictable and manageable.
And why?
From a chargeable unit (one shipping container) perspective, LCL consolidator is always paying a premium over the loading of FCL. Paying a premium to the ocean carrier will most of the time be translated into space protection and on-time sailing. At the same time, the premium paid to ocean carrier is rarely passed through to shipper due to the fact that the box is containing cargoes from a dozen of customers, which makes sense to offer good quality service at competitive price to ensure these customers always come back.
Export routing from China, India and Vietnam to the US are now up and running with followings features;
Weekly service from China
Pickup area: most city on eastern coast
China Gateway: Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Ningbo
US gateway: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, Chicago, New York, Miami
End-to-End T/T: 30 ~ 40 days including pickup, for delivery within 1,000 miles range from gateway
Weekly service from India
Pickup area: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Pune
India Gateway: Nhava Sheva, Chennai, Kolkata
US gateway: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, Chicago, New York, Miami
End-to-End T/T: 45 ~ 55 days including pickup, for delivery within 1,000 miles range from gateway
Weekly service from Vietnam
Pickup area: within 200 miles range from gateway
Vietnam Gateway: Ho Chi Minh, Haiphong
US gateway: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, Chicago, New York, Miami
End-to-End T/T: 30 ~ 40 days including pickup, for delivery within 1,000 miles range from gateway
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