In the era of more and more transparent information, "will the commercial space of the freight forwarding industry be reduced or even not?" is a topic that we have always been concerned about.

Now the tension of maritime supply chain makes the shipping market very chaotic. This makes the relationship between freight forwarder, cargo owner and carrier complex.

Just a few days ago, there was a news that made their relationship more complicated.

It is reported that in order to attract more shippers, Maersk, the world's largest carrier, is expected to announce that it will only deal with the goods of direct shippers (shippers) from November 1.

This will obviously reduce the participation of freight forwarders in the shipping service industry.

The company has established a shipping service platform to facilitate cargo owners to book space directly on the platform and provide door-to-door services. 

This is undoubtedly to reduce the business scope of freight forwarders.

At the same time, they claim that this simplifies the freight link and provides shippers with greater supply chain visibility and transparency.

Maersk's doing so is not unreasonable. 

It is said that on the Asia Europe route, the freight forwarder obtains the contract price of 4000 US dollars / feu from Maersk and then sells it to the customer for 20000 US dollars / feu. 

A senior freight forwarder joked that this may be a decision made by Maersk to recover some deserved benefits.

However, we all know that freight forwarders can provide cargo combination services for shipping companies. This can make rational use of space resources.

In response to this, Maersk responded that "freight forwarders have always been one of our largest customer groups. 

They hope to balance the supply and demand of the market under the tight supply chain.

In response to Maersk's initiative, James hookham of the global shippers Forum (GSF) believes that some shippers will become the biggest winners in this event.

However, he believes that not all shippers like to trade directly with shipping companies, but prefer the personalized services provided by freight forwarders.

Because the freight forwarder can negotiate the price with the shipping company and provide LCL service. 

In addition, the freight forwarder also provides more detailed services, which the shipping company can't do.