Niuku Shipping, Shenzhou computer Building, Bantian Street, Longgang District, Shenzhen (2026)

Name: Niuku Shipping
Address: Shenzhou computer Building, Bantian Street, Longgang District, Shenzhen, 518129, CN
Telephone: +16265514444

17/06/2024

Can 'crazy' Asian air cargo sustain long-term growth amid volatility?
Joyce Tai, executive vice president of global partnerships at Freightos, summed up the current state of the air cargo market in Asia: Air cargo capacity is rising, but disruptions in the Red Sea and surging demand from e-commerce mean prices are also rising. Asian exports via Japan have been soaring and we are seeing this impact across all air cargo transit hubs in Asia, including HKG (Hong Kong, China), TPE (Taipei, China), SIN(Singapore), NRT(Narita), etc., with cargo volumes up 10% year on year in March and prices expected to rise further during the peak season.

John Peyton Burnett, managing director of TAC Index, said: "All the signs are that we are heading for a tight peak season. And if companies haven't locked in their freight capacity, it may be too late."

As militant attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted the passage of container ships, global supply chain links to Asia have been severely disrupted, with longer shipping times, reduced reliability, port congestion, higher freight rates and a shift to air freight. At the same time, the increasing flow of cross-border e-commerce to Western markets has also added vitality to the air cargo market, resulting in congestion at both origin and transit airports in Asia and higher freight rates on major trade routes. These uncertainties also create market complexities that make it difficult for air cargo professionals to cope with or reasonably predict.

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Joyce Tai, Executive Vice President, Global Partnerships, Freightos:
"Asian exports via Japan have been soaring and we are seeing this impact in all of our air cargo transit hubs in Asia, including HKG (Hong Kong, China), TPE (Chinese Taipei), SIN(Singapore), NRT(Narita) and others."

01
The ripple effect of the Red Sea
Joyce Tai used the word "crazy" to describe the impact of the Red Sea attacks and cargo transfers. No one is prepared for this. The shift of so many different types of cargo from sea to air is too much for many airports and airlines, such as the South Asian countries of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh and the Southeast Asian countries of Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

There are now two different types of congestion in the air cargo industry: originating airports and transit hubs. For example, cargo surges and congestion are occurring at originating airports such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore, as well as transit hubs, especially in the Middle East. The source of these demands and shifts lies with retailers in importing countries. Large retailers and e-tailers in the West are shifting their shipments from sea to air because they cannot afford the empty box turnaround cycles in Europe and North America.

Amid growing demand and airport congestion, Joyce Tai observed that South Asian airlines without digital distribution are still struggling compared to digital carriers, resulting in frequent cancellations of bookings and where data can be easily lost, while those with digital capabilities have seen bookings soar by 50%.

In addition, geopolitical situations such as the Russia-Ukraine war will also affect the capacity of the market and ultimately affect freight rates. Xeneta chief Air transport Officer Niall van de Wouw noted that it takes more time to get from Asia to Europe, putting pressure on capacity and costs. If a cargo plane takes 14 hours instead of 12 or 11 hours, that means an increase in cost.

Different parts of Asia were affected by the Red Sea crisis in different ways, with some countries and regions of the Indian subcontinent being particularly affected. Ships departing from Asia through the Cape of Good Hope can be delayed by seven to eight days, but departing from India and Bangladesh can take 10 to 14 days. Because there are no shortcuts in these areas, they all turn to air transport.

According to April 2024 traffic data from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), airlines in the region saw a 13.7 percent year-on-year increase in international air cargo demand. Meanwhile, data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) highlights the Asia-Pacific region as the region with the strongest demand growth in the world.

John Peyton Burnett, Managing Director, TAC Index:
"All the signs are that we are heading for a tight season. If you haven't locked in your freight capacity, it's probably too late."

02
The impact of tariff policy
With air cargo volumes growing in recent months, logistics companies are already looking to the future. For example, Kathy Liu, vice president of Dimerco Express Group, noted in her May-June 2024 Asia Pacific Cargo Report that continued increases in ocean freight rates on Trans-Pacific Eastbound (TPEB) routes, driven by strong demand, are expected to impact the air cargo market. From June, more LCL cargo will be diverted to air, especially on TPEB routes, which is similar to the situation in 2021.

In addition, with the new tariffs set to be implemented in August, it is expected that products related to this tariff will surge, thus taking up air and sea capacity to meet the expected arrival date before the tariffs take effect.

In May 2024, the president of the United States announced new trade tariffs on $18 billion worth of Chinese imports, including electric vehicles, solar panels, and semiconductors. On May 31, U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed in a statement that it would crack down on small packages or minimum declarations and suspended several customs brokers from participating in the T86 test. The T86 Entry Test is a voluntary U.S. customs program that allows participants to electronically import small shipments worth up to $800 without paying duties and taxes.

In a statement, Customs and Border Protection said, "We are stepping up enforcement to ensure that all participants are held accountable when they break the rules." To date, U.S. Customs has suspended a number of customs brokers from participating in the T86 test because they present unacceptable compliance risks."

Freightos' Tai expressed concern about new legislation and opposition from trade groups in the United States, which could reduce e-commerce traffic. Chinese e-commerce giants TEMU and SHEIN are still filling cargo holds at a rapid pace, but potential legislation and opposition from trade groups could take a toll on e-commerce volumes, freeing up some space.

However, Niall van de Wouw, chief air freight officer at Xeneta, believes that while legislation and crackdown may affect trade and air cargo volumes, there is still a lot of trade between China and the United States. What we're seeing is a shift. Goods are still coming from, or in part coming from, China and being shipped through Vietnam to the United States or Mexico and finally to the United States.

Niall van de Wouw, Chief Air Transport Officer, Xeneta:
"But at that time, we encountered the Red Sea situation and a big increase in e-commerce volumes, which made shippers and forwarders a little bit less comfortable when signing long-term agreements."

03
E-commerce drives air freight growth in Asia
Despite geopolitical and policy influences, there is no denying that the growth of e-commerce in Asia has led to strong demand growth for air cargo. According to December 2023 data from parcel shipping consulting firm ship matrix, China's two e-commerce giants, TEMU and SHEIN, each ship 1 million packages a day to the United States.

In its May-June 2024 Asia Pacific Cargo report, Dimerco noted that unlike traditional trends in the air cargo market, e-commerce has been a key product driving demand. In addition, the shift of production from China to countries such as Thailand and Vietnam has also contributed to the increase in the volume of goods within the Asian market.

Wilson Kwong, CEO of Hong Kong Freight Terminals Limited (Hactl), calls Asia a hot spot for e-commerce. This is partly because of the presence of production powerhouses, led by China, and partly because the increasing industrialisation of Asia is creating wealth and hence demand for foreign luxury goods.

With many countries on lockdown during the pandemic, e-commerce is booming and a lot of shopping is done online. The economy subsequently cooled but has recently returned to strong growth. The reasons for this are unclear, perhaps due to the recovery of some economies and the resulting rise in demand for big-ticket items that are often transported by air.

While mature markets in the United States and Europe remain the main targets for Chinese cross-border e-commerce sellers, new markets are emerging. With the implementation of free trade agreements and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) policies, emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East are emerging as new "gold mines" for cross-border sellers.

In this situation, logistics companies in the Asian region are preparing to take advantage of this potential and opportunity. For example, Pete Chareonwongsak, CEO of Teleport, A logistics company owned by Malaysia's Capital A(formerly AirAsia), spoke about their vision to provide affordable and fast same-day and next-day delivery in Asia. With AirAsia's belly space integrated into its network, Teleport also operates three narrow-body Airbus A321 freighters, with plans to add seven more to deliver two million packages per day by 2025.

Speaking on the growth of e-commerce in Asia and Southeast Asia, Pete Chareonwongsak noted that parcel exports from China to Southeast Asia were $523 billion. That means China now exports more to Southeast Asia than it does to the United States. During the pandemic, e-commerce became a $130 billion industry, and now that the pandemic is over, we expect e-commerce to mature and grow at 20 to 25 percent annually. More importantly, consumer expectations are rising, and cheap or quality delivery is not enough, consumers want cheap, quality and fast delivery services.

Given the rise of fast fashion giant SHEIN and e-commerce giant TEMU, industry observers remain optimistic about the region's e-commerce driven growth for the rest of the year, especially on routes between Asia and Europe and Asia and North America.

Lim Ching Kiat, executive vice president of Air Hubs and Cargo Development at Singapore's Changi Airport Group, noted that one of the strengths of the Asia-Pacific region is the semiconductor industry, which is where ASEAN has seen an increase in foreign investment in recent years. In the long run, the Asia-Pacific region will undoubtedly continue to play an important role in the air cargo space. In particular, ASEAN is expected to play an important role in the manufacturing sector, given the region's abundant resources, cost competitiveness and labor resources. With expected progress in urbanization and industrialization, the region is poised for growth in manufacturing, trade, and logistics.

Wilson Kwong, CEO of Hong Kong Freight Terminals Limited (Hactl) :
"Asia is a hot spot for e-commerce. This is due both to the presence of major producers, led by China, and to the increasing industrialisation of Asia."

While the prospects for the development of the air cargo industry in the Asian region are bright, the current market uncertainty and volatility is also evident in the agreements between shippers and freight forwarders.

In a recent Xeneta TIACA State of the Air webinar, Niall van de Wouw noted that shippers and freight forwarders are now less willing to sign long-term agreements. During previous outbreaks, there was a lot of uncertainty in the market and few long-term agreements in the industry. Later, the market calmed down a bit and shippers and freight forwarders had more in common to reach longer term agreements, but the Red Sea crisis and the huge growth in the volume of e-commerce followed, which made shippers and freight forwarders slightly uneasy when signing long-term agreements.

Because the more long-term agreements a business has, the greater the uncertainty, and the greater the risk if it has a fixed price. So the question on both sides of the table now is: Am I making the deal at the right time, at the right level?

TAC Index's Burnett said the market needs new risk management tools, which are being developed by TAC Index and the Baltic exchange. If you rely entirely on spot capacity, you may not get the best price at the time of booking. Fixing prices in the future is also an option, but it is a riskier strategy given the volatility of prices. So purchasing teams need to change their mindset from fixed budgets to getting the best price.

Whether it is the impact of the Red Sea crisis or the increase in cargo volumes due to e-commerce demand, air cargo industry leaders are skeptical about how long this growth will last and can be sustained in the long term. But no matter how many geopolitical and trade war risks there are, goods will always find their way.

11/06/2024

With 300 million units sold, the product exploded🏆

In the cross-border e-commerce industry, digital 3C, home furniture, clothing, shoes and hats have always been popular categories for exports, and their popularity also means that the competition is relatively fierce. But even if it is already the Red Sea circuit, there will still be some strong players to stand out.

In the past two years, with the advent of the global smart phone era, the related accessories derived from smart phones ushered in a violent growth, among which, a small mobile phone stand has become a dark horse in the industry with many advantages, it is Popsockets.

Data show that as early as 2018, the explosive single product achieved $200 million in revenue, and it is currently selling about 300 million pieces worldwide, and from its sales on Amazon, it is common to sell thousands or even tens of thousands of pieces per month, so it is not an exaggeration to say that it is red through half of the sky.

Frankly speaking, although Popsockets always appear as a personality image, it was born to solve the problem of headphones storage. David Barnett, the founder of Popsockets, was always annoyed that he could not store the headphone cable, so he glued two small air bags on the back of the phone to facilitate the storage of the headphone cable, which is also its main selling point "the headphone cable winding", "easy to hold the phone without worrying about dropping" and so on.

After finding a business opportunity, David immediately started to crowdfund, and due to financial constraints at the beginning of the establishment, David chose to make CAD models by himself and handed over the implementation of sample models to Chinese manufacturers. After more than 60 attempts and tweaks, the first Popsockets came out.

The original Popsockets were a great way to solve the problems of smartphone users winding their headphones, keeping their phones upright, and making them easy to hold, so they were very popular once they were released. But the real reason for its soaring sales is its personalized strategy and marketing means after the brand has a foothold.

It is no exaggeration to say that today's young people's mobile phones are almost inseparable, and for young consumers who are more personalized, how to dress up mobile phones can show their aesthetic preferences, and even personality attitudes. Popsockets, which discovered this feature, also began to launch a fierce offensive in this area.

Unlike other stick-on brackets, Popsockets's airbag bracket can be disassembled and replaced, which means that consumers can replace it at any time according to their mood, which is of great appeal to consumers who pursue fashion and personality.

In addition, co-branding with classic IP is also a big tool for Popsockets to open popularity, co-branded IP including Disney, Sanrio, Swarovski, etc., the advantage of these linkage is that it can not only enhance the experience of the original target consumer group, but also attract audiences from outside the 3C digital circle and expand the fan base.

With the blessing of multiple advantages, Popsockets's positioning has gradually changed from "helping consumers solve mobile phone problems" to "fashion items", and Popsockets began to explode after 2017, once becoming a fashion darling of the social network.

After enjoying the huge exposure, Popsockets took advantage of the hot iron and invited a number of celebrities to promote, including Kendall, Taylor Swift, Nicole Kidman and many others. It is worth noting that with the improvement of brand awareness, there are even many stars spontaneously buy Popsockets and post to social media, under the influence of celebrity effect, Popsockets popularity to a higher level.

In addition to the popular single product mobile phone stand, the PopSockets "family" team is also growing, derived from the mobile phone case, magnetic card bag, magnetic charging treasure, car bracket and other products, in order to meet the needs of more consumers.

All in all, Popsockets's success is not only due to the product itself, but also a precise brand positioning and marketing strategy. For cross-border sellers, if they want their own brand to be successful, they need to find their own positioning, and constantly optimize and try in marketing strategy, so that it is more likely to achieve the goal of becoming bigger and stronger.

07/06/2024

🤩New features online, Amazon sellers to increase sales!

As we all know, the advertising budget is a hard expenditure for Amazon sellers, so how to spend this money more effectively and achieve twice the effect with half the effort? That's the question on every seller's mind.

As the membership day is approaching, many sellers have been increasing the advertising budget, if the promotion effect is not satisfactory, perhaps the seller can consider using other forms of advertising, such as --

Amazon Asia station recently launched a new function - post exposure.

As the name suggests, post exposure can improve the visibility of sellers' posts, attract potential users, and thus increase brand influence and product sales.

According to Amazon, the post exposure function mainly converts brand sellers' graphic or video posts into advertisements with one click, and high-quality posts can no longer only be passively waiting for viewing, but will be active, so that buyers can more intuitively and quickly understand your products, greatly improve brand visibility, and accurately attract potential users.

Compared to general Posting, post promotion is like a "magnifying glass" that allows brand sellers to play a greater role in quality post content, including:

1. Reach more ads on Amazon

Brand flagship store, product details page, search page and all information flow;

2. Control more accurate crowd reach

Implement targeted delivery, including keyword and product delivery, and increase consumer reach through advertising targeting;

3. Get more visible display rankings

Ranking based on AD bids and predicted AD click-through rates.

This function can transform the brand's social content into advertising content, and actively display it to more potential fans, expand the user base, and promote sales. On the other hand, sellers use quality posts for brand promotion, reducing advertising costs and getting twice the result with half the effort.

According to data from Amazon's official website, after the launch of the new feature, the click-through rate of ads containing lifestyle creative elements on mobile devices increased by more than 40% compared with ads that only show products. In addition, the click-through rate of brands promoted using posts also increased by 16.3% compared to AD campaigns solely promoting ASIN.

At present, the post promotion function has been online in the United States, which can help sellers improve the promotion effect in multiple dimensions.

02

How to use the post promotion feature?

Small knowledge for everyone to check the specific operation path, can be used as a reference ~

Operation path:

1. Amazon Advertising > Brand Content > Posts > Posts Console

2. Click the "Promote" button, and images and video posts can be converted into "Amazon Brand Promotion" ads.

This feature also has some principles of use, sellers can create posts for different items in the store, add up to 5 items per post, can add ASIN links for related items in the post picture, and can add different variations for multi-variant items.

However, the specific effect of the new function needs to be verified by the seller.

I hope everyone can make good use of the new features, timely adapt to the new changes of Amazon, and explode orders every day!

06/06/2024

⚽️Orders are skyrocketing! The European Cup with fire sellers business

As a quadrennial world football event, this year's event will be held in 10 cities in Germany from June 14 to July 14, 24 European teams, 51 peak matchups, 10 top stadiums... It is destined that this top sports feast will bring the most passionate and hot football summer for all fans.

Top games carnival, often stimulate the market consumer demand, especially as a football power, the rising enthusiasm of German fans is also injecting a new vitality into the e-commerce market.

The arrival of the European Cup is not only a carnival for fans, but also the rapid growth of sales of related sports goods has provided huge business opportunities for cross-border sellers.

According to eBay, since March, the German site has seen a surge in demand for products related to the European Championship, with sales of German national football team supplies up about 400 percent, fan merchandise and spectator supplies up 147 percent and 98 percent, respectively.

With the approaching of the tournament, the collection of star card market is also ushering in a big outbreak on the eve of the European Cup. Data show that in the past month, the exposure of star cards related to European football matches on eBay platform has grown rapidly, of which the exposure of cards published by Chinese sellers has reached millions of times, achieving double-digit rapid growth.

At the same time, the European Cup also early fire Yiwu trade, sporting goods exports soared.

From football, sportswear and other sporting goods, hand rings, colored flags, cheering sticks and other events around, every time before the opening of large-scale international sports events, Yiwu bosses can be keen insight into the demand for business opportunities, push new products, receive orders, a few months in advance of the order directly filled, early ushered in the "explosive order" moment.

"This year, the European Championship, the Copa America, the Olympics, one after another, we have been busy since March and we will continue until July." "Said a Yiwu seller.

It is understood that as the European Cup continues to heat up, including sports goods such as football, basketball and volleyball, national flags, fuel scarves, fan wigs, cheering sticks and other Olympic-related goods are very popular. According to the statistics of Yiwu Customs, in the first quarter of this year, Yiwu exported 2.20 billion yuan of sporting goods, an increase of 46.2%, of which 230 million yuan of sporting goods was exported to the EU, an increase of 32.2%.

According to another media report, the person in charge of a cross-border logistics service provider with a Sino-US special line said that in the first quarter of this year, orders from Yiwu merchants increased by more than 20% year-on-year, mainly because of the increase in delivery demand from cross-border e-commerce sellers. If you look at a single platform, the logistics orders of the Temu platform increased by more than 200% in the first quarter.

05/06/2024

Who's to blame for the freight increase

First of all, look at the problem of containers, at present, both at home and abroad are in a shortage of containers.

The reasons for the shortage of containers are, first, the elongated route, resulting in the slow return speed of containers.

According to Blue Ocean data, in May 2024, the weekly average volume of container ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea decreased by 72.5% compared to the same period last year; The average weekly traffic on the Cape of Good Hope increased by 425% compared to the same period last year.

Second, a large number of containers are piling up in ports.

The main reason for the accumulation is that shipping companies have successfully raised freight prices in May, and shippers who are worried about freight have rushed to ship. (Some people, etc., want to see the freight drop, naturally, some people are in a hurry, and they have different judgments about the market.)

From the perspective of domestic container terminals, such as inland ports along the Yangtze River to the port of the cabinet will have a large backlog, according to shipping company sources, in Shanghai waiting for the ship generally takes 2-3 weeks. Although this represents a recovery in foreign trade, it also puts great pressure on shipping.

For example, Ningbo Port staff also said in a recent interview that at present, the shortage of containers has affected the transportation plan of some ships, and the situation of "cargo and other ships" has intensified. In this context, to get the container shipped out smoothly, to face the dilemma of higher cost than expected; Companies that can't grab containers can only choose to delay delivery, but delayed delivery means a backlog of costs.

This can also be confirmed from domestic container production plants and enterprises.

(The following content is excerpted from CCTV Finance, National Business News, China Times and other media interviews.)

In an interview, a container manufacturer said: "Since March, their order volume has surged, and now their monthly production capacity is 33,000, basically reaching full production."

A shipping equipment company said: "The current overall speed of about 90 seconds to produce a box, we did not expect the follow-up orders will be so hot, now basically until the end of October are full."

A container production factory said: "The current container profit point has increased from 5% to 20%, orders from various ports, a single can fill the factory for one or two months, the container factory's schedule is estimated to September."

From the perspective of global container terminals, summarizing the data for the entire month of May, the congestion situation is also on the rise.

In early May, X-Press Feeders said that based on waiting times over the past four weeks, the general delay time at the Port of Singapore was 0.96 days and the delay time at the Port of Shanghai was 2.03 days.

In mid-May, shipping company Hapaglott said: "We need to adjust the operational plan according to the development of the situation, the current waiting time for our vessels in the port of Singapore is about two to four days."

According to a report by Visy, a major Australian packaging company, delays are currently up to six days. "Port congestion in Asia, particularly in Singapore, Shanghai, Ningbo and Port Klang in Malaysia, has seen ship turnover delays of between three and six days," said Peter Sundara, its global head of maritime transport.

Dubai CargoGulf also said delays are increasing: waiting times are 3-4 days at Dubai's Jebel Ali port, 4-6 days at Dammam Port, 1-2 days at Colombo Port, 3-5 days at Singapore, 2-3 days at Port Klang, and 1-2 days at Ningbo and Shanghai. Jeddah port up to 12 days.

In late May, it was recently reported that container congestion at the Port of Singapore had reached unprecedented critical levels, with a large number of ships queuing outside the port of Singapore, with a backlog of more than 450,000 TEUs of containers, and the analyst firm estimated that the waiting time for these ships could reach up to seven days.

As of 2024/5/25, the Clarksons global container ship congestion Index was at 30.2%. From the perspective of waiting time, as of May 24, the average waiting time of container ships in the world (8000TEU+, 7dma) was 7.7 hours, an increase of 0.2 hours compared with the end of April.

A large number of positions are occupied

From the above data and related reports, it can be seen that the shortage of containers has now become one of the reasons for driving up freight costs.

At the same time, large foreign retailers and manufacturing giants occupy a large number of positions, which is also one of the reasons.

According to insiders, the current situation is that, such as the United States line, the FAK of the market accounts for less than 30%, and most of the positions are occupied by large foreign retailers such as Walmart and large manufacturing enterprises. (Large volume and low price, generally under $2,000, and the freight remains the same throughout the year.)

On how foreigners have the problem of shipping space, in fact, there is no way, after all, people are loyal customers, although the shipping company has recently sent out a lot of news that the warehouse is sold at a high price, but it is bullying our small freight forwarder, not only dare to these large customers, but also to protect the number of shipping space.

(Again, the shipping company dares to withdraw, others are also really dare to Sue, we recently also broadcast the relevant article, link: Sue the shipping company! Cancellation of contract, CMA Fei was sued for $1200w)

In summary, first of all, it can be seen that freight increases have now fallen into a "cycle".

Starting from the situation in the Red Sea led to a global shortage of shipping capacity, shipping companies raised prices, leading to shippers rushing to ship, which aggravated the problem of insufficient containers and dock congestion, and then the sailing time became longer, the shipping capacity was not enough, and the shipping company raised prices, forming a cycle.

According to the current shipping situation, combined with the industry insiders and the reported information mentioned in the article, the relevant data website information, it is estimated that the high freight will continue to October.

On this issue, Xiaobian is also borrowed from a word in the relevant report, the current situation is that early shipping is better than late shipping, and now the shortage of containers and the shortage of shipping capacity are still worsening, waiting will not only cause the possibility of overdue default, and freight rates may also rise further.

Secondly, it can also be seen that the parity warehouse is not absent, but the shipping company does not give it, and others have already arranged it.

The current situation is that freight forwarders and direct customers are grabbing this less than 30% of FAK, and perhaps some fairy characters can still get a warehouse at a low price, but the general situation is that everyone is now competing for a warehouse at a high price.

Finally, it is also a small suggestion that at this time, traders and sellers in addition to making a good preparation plan and maintaining a union with shipping service providers, they can also prepare third-party overseas warehouses in advance before the price rises to the peak!

Address

Shenzhou Computer Building, Bantian Street, Longgang District
Shenzhen
518129

Telephone

+16265514444

Website

https://www.niukushipping.com/

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