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Eastlink Global Logistics Ltd. |
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IN an era of ever-increasing ship sizes where economies of scale has become the "in-phrase" of our time, there is a growing need for niche service providers. For the top shipping lines in the world today they believe it is essential to acquire the big vessels to reduce unit costs, but with this increase in size, flexibility becomes somewhat of an issue, and for the logistics companies that work with the major lines. Not only does it restrict a service provider from operating in certain trade lanes, it also impacts their ability to call at certain ports within the trades that they can operate in. This of course provides opportunities for niche service providers¡K One such niche operator, Hong Kong-based EastLink Global Logistics, has managed to carve out a strong position for itself by offering the full range of logistics services to smaller ports that are closer to the end markets of a growing number of customers. Speaking with The Container Shipping Manager in a recent interview the company's general manager in Hong Kong, Luca Aprea, said his company had benefitted greatly in the markets in which EastLink operates. While the Hong Kong-based forwarder does offer services to North Europe and the United States, its true expertise lies in Central and South America, East and West Africa and Eastern Europe, to places such as Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. "Our main expertise is the capacity to handle the inland transportation, thanks to our profound knowledge of the destinations and the markets we serve. We have strong partners in the region. We have staff that have lived in and know these areas very well and speak the languages of these countries. Therefore we are capable of solving the issues that we are confronted with in serving these destinations," Mr Aprea said. One example of how EastLink has used this to its advantage is with one of its major accounts in Mexico. "This customer required staff to speak his mother tongue, which is Spanish, while at the same time he needed staff that could speak the language of its supplier in China. In both cases we were able to provide this. "The customer also needed a custom-made solution for reporting the cargo status on a daily basis and he needed delivery of the goods to a very particular destination, which is not served by the major players. We were able to build a solution to meet all of this customer's needs thanks to our unique service capabilities," the general manager said. EastLink has also just launched a new service to northern Mexico, which again serves the needs of customers whose requirements cannot be met by the larger logistics companies. Rather than calling at the larger ports of Mazatlan or Ensenada, this new service calls at the smaller, but rapidly growing, port of Puerto de Guaymas, which serves the Chihuahua region in northern Mexico. "It's cost effective because the other port alternatives, Ensenada or Mazatlan are further from this area. We are able to ship into the port directly with cost savings and time savings as well. Also in terms of security in countries like Mexico, it is better to have the cargo shipped by vessel rather than having it trucked over long distances. So through this service we are able to enhance the security of the shipments too. "I also believe that we are the only forwarder in Hong Kong that is now offering this service," he said. Looking to the future, Mr Aprea said his company is also preparing to expand its presence in East Africa, using the Port of Mombasa in Kenya as its base there, to take advantage of the surge in trade between the Far East and Africa. "We have a very strong partner there who is asset intensive and is capable of serving inland destinations. We are planning to open later this year a full box service and an LCL service option as well to these destinations," he said. The general manager added that he was very optimistic about EastLink's potential for growth this year, particularly to Latin America and Africa. Another area of growth he foresees is in the company's project shipment business¡Xan area that EastLink's flexible niche service offerings truly shines. "Our project cargoes are mainly moved from China and Asia to the Gulf of Mexico. They are mainly related to the oil and gas industry. These are complex shipments, which require the capacity deploy our personal expertise, thanks to our highly-trained staff and our local network, which is essential," the general manager said. It would seem that bigger is not always better in the case of EastLink. Certainly the global shipping and logistics market is moving in the "upsize" direction. But this does not necessarily mean that those that cannot keep up will be pushed out. They may very well be pushed out of the major markets, but plenty of opportunities still exist in niche services. There is no one size fits all solution in managing the global supply chain, nor is there a rule that says only the biggest can survive¡Xcompanies like EastLink Global Logistics is clearly showing that to be true.
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