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With the increase of external uncertainties such as customs inspection and slowing demand, the cross-border logistics industry has been shifting from a "seller's market" with insufficient supply to a "buyer's market" with oversupply in recent years. However, after multiple rounds of reshuffles, a number of logistics companies with hidden "hidden risks" are gradually withdrawing from the cross-border stage.
In 2024, "a small crash every three days and a big crash every five days" seems to have become the norm in the freight forwarding industry. Recently, news of freight forwarding crashes has been reported in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other places.
It is learned that according to industry sources, Guangzhou *Cheng International Logistics Co., Ltd. suffered a financial crisis and announced the suspension of operations.
According to the notice it released, the logistics company claimed that the main reason for the suspension of operations was poor management and a break in capital flow. According to sellers, the logistics company defaulted on freight and overseas warehouse fees, which led to the temporary detention of goods . Many sellers and peers were greatly affected. Currently, some cargo owners and freight forwarders have begun to redeem the goods.
▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure
What surprised the industry the most was the establishment time of Guangzhou * Cheng. According to public information from Qichacha, Guangzhou * Cheng was established on March 22, 2024, less than half a year before it announced the suspension of operations.
The news quickly caused heated discussions in the circle.
Some freight forwarding peers believe that the logistics company is suspected of defrauding sellers and peers as it collapsed in such a short period of time.
▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure
However, some industry insiders believe that Guangzhou *Cheng did not run away, but its risk resistance was weak, and they lamented the difficult environment: after the industry reshuffle, the only ones who can stay are basically professional freight forwarding companies with sufficient funds and strong risk resistance.
Coincidentally, at almost the same time, Shenzhen *Hui Supply Chain was also reported to have run away, and its office is now empty.
According to reports, Shenzhen * Hui once attracted customers with a price 9 yuan lower than the market price and required advance payment, accumulating huge debts over a long period of time. According to industry sources, it is rumored that Shenzhen * Hui's debt has risen from 10 million yuan to 600 million yuan .
It is also worth mentioning that according to public information from Qichacha, the registered office address of Shenzhen * Hui is almost the same as that of the previously absconded Mexican * company. This has also led many industry insiders to speculate that the two companies’ failures are related.
However, as of press time, it is still difficult to determine the specific amount of debt owed by Shenzhen * Hui and the real reason for running away.
Faced with the series of freight forwarding bankruptcies, many logistics professionals have lamented that 2024 seems to be a disaster year for the freight forwarding industry.
According to incomplete statistics, from July to August this year, more than 30 freight forwarders were exposed to bankruptcy in the industry , concentrated in the European and American dedicated lines. Their establishment time ranged from a few months to a few years. Most of them had their goods detained due to their inability to pay freight and overseas warehouse fees due to broken capital chains, or they ran away with the money after picking up goods at low prices, or they transported goods in violation of regulations and could not pass customs inspection.
This not only caused considerable economic losses to customers who needed to transport goods, but also brought a greater credibility crisis to the cross-border logistics industry. Recently, several so-called "freight forwarder blacklists" were circulated in the cross-border e-commerce industry.
After the endless stream of "freight forwarder blacklists", the industry's trust in logistics companies has reached an unprecedented low . In order to avoid another "blacklist", many sellers will conduct multiple investigations before choosing a freight forwarder. The recent "freight forwarder blacklists" circulated on the Internet have become one of the references for sellers' investigations.
Among them, a blacklist involving more than 800 logistics companies across the country has attracted the attention of a large number of people in the industry.
Judging from the exposed screenshots, the blacklist clearly lists the names, types and related usage experiences of logistics companies. The reasons for avoiding failures include slow warehousing speed, slow customs clearance time, loss of transported goods, poor service attitude , etc.
▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure
It is understood that many so-called "freight forwarder blacklists" are collected from complaints on online social platforms. Among them, there are sincere revelations from victimized sellers , and some freight forwarders "fish in troubled waters" to spread news of questionable authenticity.
However, due to the large number of freight forwarding defaults in recent times, adhering to the concept of "it is better to believe it than not to believe it", some people in the industry will still refer to some "blacklists" when choosing logistics companies.
This has also had a certain impact on some "innocent" logistics companies that were affected.
Recently, a freight forwarding company in Shenzhen issued a solemn statement, saying that a "blacklist" circulated on the Internet recently was spreading false information, which had a bad impact on its company's reputation and image. At present, the freight forwarding company has reported the case to the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau.
At the same time, in order to "prove its innocence", the freight forwarder also offered a reward of 300,000 yuan to anyone who could prove that it had committed fraud.
▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure
From this point of view, the authenticity of the information in the freight forwarder blacklist circulated on the Internet is also questionable.
But there is no doubt that freight forwarding companies are generally facing extremely severe operating pressure under the pressure of the overall environment of the container shipping market. With the start of another round of reshuffle, more logistics companies with hidden risks may surface.
For freight forwarders, a healthy and sufficient cash flow is undoubtedly a solid guarantee for sustainable operations. For sellers, doing background checks in advance and choosing strong logistics companies are the key to preventing the impact of bankruptcy. For example, the logistics companies mentioned above that were established a short time ago and have connections with previous bankruptcy can all be found out from public information when choosing logistics channels.
In addition, based on feedback from the industry, in addition to violations such as soliciting goods at low prices and failing inspections, many of the logistics companies that have gone bankrupt have broken their capital chain due to force majeure factors in the external environment. Here, we also recommend that sellers establish a risk warning mechanism when choosing logistics channels, or choose multiple logistics companies to diversify risks and avoid being "killed with one blow."
What do you think about this? Welcome to discuss in the comment area~
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