Freight forwarders warn that rising costs and labor shortages will be the next challenges
Nippon Express, the world's sixth largest sea freight forwarder and eighth largest air freight forwarder, issued a warning while announcing its financial results for the first half of this year, saying that the situation in the logistics industry is still unstable, and rising costs and labor shortages will bring great challenges to the industry!
Nippon Express 'pre-tax profit halved to 21 billion yen ($147 million) compared with the same period last year. Nippon Express Group revenue increased by 118 billion yen to 1,249.8 billion yen (approximately $8,626 billion), an increase of 10.4% year-on-year
In the report, the firm cited the uncertain direction of the global economy, geopolitical conflicts, rising costs and other challenges.
"The current situation in the logistics industry remains volatile," Nippon Express wrote, adding that e-commerce is a positive factor in the market.
"At the same time, certain geopolitical risks have emerged and are directly affecting the movement of goods, including disruptions caused by avoiding transit through the Suez Canal due to instability in the Red Sea."
In addition, the Japanese company, which is clearly focused on the domestic market, believes that consumer confidence is weakening due to the recent surge in prices.
"Due to high logistics costs and increased personnel expenses, we expect operating income, pre-tax profit and profit attributable to the owner of the parent company to be lower than our previous forecast," Nippon Express said in a comment.
The company urged the industry to address "the challenges of increasing logistics cost pressures," including labor shortages and high fuel costs.
Nippon Express 'pre-tax profit halved to 21 billion yen ($147 million) compared with the same period last year. Nippon Express Group revenue increased by 118 billion yen to 1,249.8 billion yen (approximately $8,626 billion), an increase of 10.4% year-on-year
In the report, the firm cited the uncertain direction of the global economy, geopolitical conflicts, rising costs and other challenges.
"The current situation in the logistics industry remains volatile," Nippon Express wrote, adding that e-commerce is a positive factor in the market.
"At the same time, certain geopolitical risks have emerged and are directly affecting the movement of goods, including disruptions caused by avoiding transit through the Suez Canal due to instability in the Red Sea."
In addition, the Japanese company, which is clearly focused on the domestic market, believes that consumer confidence is weakening due to the recent surge in prices.
"Due to high logistics costs and increased personnel expenses, we expect operating income, pre-tax profit and profit attributable to the owner of the parent company to be lower than our previous forecast," Nippon Express said in a comment.
The company urged the industry to address "the challenges of increasing logistics cost pressures," including labor shortages and high fuel costs.
