Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.
The Marfreight headquarters keep multiplying: On the 1st of May, our offices in Milano Segrate will officially be operational.
This was a strategic decision for our maritime/air transportation services, placing us in one of the hotspots of international logistics.
Marfreight offices: the reason behind the opening of our new Milan headquarters
Milan is the beating heart of economic activity – a strategic location for international logistics.
To be able to provide a service abreast of challenging international commerce, the companies operating in the field of shipments must be able to rely on a solid and well-connected network. This, in turn, translates not just into well-established relationships with the major carriers but also and foremost, into an active presence on the territory.
Milan stands out for being one of the liveliest cities regarding commerce and logistics.
As a matter of fact, Milan dramatically benefits from its geographically advantageous position, which puts the city near leading international markets. As a matter of fact, its proximity to Mediterranean ports and the main motorway and railway networks makes it a genuine logistics hub, an ideal location for coordinating shipments all over the world. Milan-Malpensa Airport is indeed one of the most crucial cargo airports in Europe.
Our presence also in Milan thus secures us the opportunity to create customised logistics solutions offering our partner customers a sizeable competitive edge.
A growing company looking far ahead
The opening of this new headquarters, following that of Salerno, is once again a testament to our company’s journey of constant growth, one consisting of choices made to always provide the best service in terms of speed, efficiency and reliability. Exploiting the resources offered by this pulsating city means accessing an extensive network of trade opportunities, optimising logistics operations and, for us, providing top-quality services.
Our new Marfreight headquarters in Salerno is finally operational.
Starting from the 1st of April, our forwarding company will now be based also in Salerno, a strategic location for maritime transport.
Our offices in Salerno will provide territorial support to developing our company’s activities in the fields of Customs and Health checks, relying on skilled personnel who carry below their belt years of experience and boast direct connections in the local area.
This will allow us to offer our clients even more flexible, fast and reliable services and to create tailor-made solutions for all kinds of goods.
This was a strategic decision on our part, one that will allow us to follow even more closely the freights that are entrusted to us: Marfreight’s presence in the area represents indeed a safety assurance on the transport and care towards our clients, also and especially during the delicate operations of customs control.
The opening of these new headquarters represents yet another step towards the growth of our company, which, although still relatively young, is making headway among the major international forwarders, thus strengthening its presence at a national level, relying on direct offices and skilled operations personnel.
The new Salerno base is indeed an addition to the Marfreight’s head office, located in Napoli, and to the operational headquarters in Bari, the latter by now having become an entity to be reckoned with in the maritime/air transportation industry in the Apulian area.
Cooperating closely with companies is for us an essential advantage because it enables us, now as in the past, to provide a service that lives up to our clients’ expectations, a service that we fulfil every day with passion and dedication.
Italian shipping and inflation, what’s the current situation? An overview was provided by the latest Fedespedi Economic Outlook published in March last year.
According to the report, the effects of the economic uncertainties related to the war in Ukraine could run into 2023.
Of particular concern with regard to Italian shipping is the increase in inflation.
Rising inflation is a concern for Italian shipping
The report shows that, despite various crisis factors, 2022 was better than expected, thanks in part to the appropriate countermeasures taken through business support policies.
However, forecasts for 2023 are still cautious, not least because of the continuing instability in the global geopolitical situation and the inflationary pressures that have led to a consequent rise in rates.
In January, consumer prices increased by 0.2% compared to the previous month and by 10.1% compared to January 2022, growth mainly related to the costs of energy goods.
It is also interesting to consider the fluctuating trend of e-commerce, which in 2022 saw bouts of growth alongside downturns.
In contrast, the state of global logistics chains is shown by the Global Supply Chain Pressure Index (GSCPI), published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which shows a moderate decline in January 2023.
What is the state of container traffic in Italian ports?
According to early estimates, it is expected to have increased by 2.4% year-on-year to around 11.5 million TEU in 2022. The increase affected all major ports, especially the ports of Savona and Ravenna. A trend that, however, did not affect ports such as Genoa, La Spezia and Salerno, which instead showed a slight decrease.
This growth also reached transhipment ports, such as Gioia Tauro, which regained the numbers seen a few years ago, and Taranto and Cagliari, which experienced a major crisis during the pandemic period.
As a result, maritime transport came back to life in 2022, also recording a clear decrease in ship delays: from 30.4% of ships on schedule at the beginning of 2022, to 56.6% in December of the same year.
At Marfreight, we work tirelessly to offer our customers the best deals, thanks to valuable partnerships established over the years with major freight carriers.
For more information, you can contact us here on a no obligation basis.
On 21 March, the Financial Times published the FT 1000: a list of the 1,000 fastest growing European companies over the last three years.
To our great pride, Marfreight made the list as the first Italian company, in Europe, in the Logistics and Transport sector. A great result that rewards our commitment over the past few years, our dedication and passion for our business and for the forwarding industry.
The ranking was compiled in collaboration with Statista, a leading German institute for the certification of economic data, and involved companies in 34 countries (including Europe, the UK, Switzerland and others), analysed on the basis of the annual growth rate measured by the revenues obtained in the period between 2018 and 2021.
Growth Leaders 2023: top companies despite the pandemic
This is a very important result for us, a sign of our great commitment to the sector, even and despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. After more than a year of the Covid-19 emergency, companies across Europe have been hit hard, due in part to disruptions in the global supply chain.
The minimum growth rate to qualify for the list of one thousand European growth leaders was 36.2%. At Marfreight , we recorded an absolute growth rate of 45.0% and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 81.2%.
Forecasts tell us that next year our company could make a repeat appearance in the rankings.
This achievement comes on top of another recognition obtained: our company’s inclusion among the “Growth Leaders 2022”, the ranking compiled by Statista and published in Il Sole 24 Ore, which gathered the Italian companies that grew the most in terms of turnover and number of employees over the three-year period 2017-2020.
First and foremost, we would like to thank our partners who rely on us every day and choose our services. But also, and above all, all the people who make up the Marfreight team: professionals who invest commitment, dedication, passion and energy into always offering our customers the best possible solutions.
In recent months, there has been increasing talk of Friend Shoring, a new approach to the global market.
Because of the market crisis caused by global events such as the Pandemic and the war in Ukraine, countries have seen the need to diversify supply chains in order to make their economies less vulnerable to external risks. The US has chosen the Friend Shoring approach: a tool aimed at promoting economic resilience by relocating supply chains to “friend” countries.
Friend Shoring: Meaning and Market Impact
In fact, it is a solution that the US decided to implement even before the conflict in Ukraine erupted.
In essence, it is a matter of relocating some stages of production to countries that share the same set of values or interests, as well as the reference country’s geopolitical alignment.
Consider the following example: Because the Beijing government has committed human rights violations against Uighurs and other ethnic and religious minorities, the Biden administration has begun to limit imports of goods produced in the State of Xinjiang, including cotton and tomatoes.
A sustainable approach that could have a significant impact on the international trade of those countries that have always made trade agreements with everyone.
Global market risks are pushing towards offshoring.
The need for a Friend Shoring approach stems from the need to defend global economic integration by increasing the reliability of the supply of goods on which the various world economies rely.
There are three major risks to trade relations that have been highlighted by pandemics and wars:
- the excessive concentration of critical goods production in a single market, which makes supply chains vulnerable and potentially dangerous;
- geopolitical risks, such as Russia’s control over the transportation of natural gas and grain deposits;
- the presence of supply chains that violate fundamental human rights.
The Friend Shoring should be developed in response to these challenges, with the goal of making the global market safer and more sustainable.
Italy’s position
Our country appears to have already started down the path of friend shoring. Trade with European countries, North American countries, and Mediterranean countries increased in 2022. According to the most recent Censis data, 364.4 billion euros of Italian exports to the world were simply friend shoring in the first seven months of 2022.
Not everyone believes the Friend Shoring is truly sustainable. According to some economists, this approach could widen the gap between developed and developing countries. However, the transformation has already begun. The past year has highlighted the vulnerability of a global market that has failed to account for environmental and human factors in manufacturing processes. The same market that is threatened by climate change.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.
VGM weighing is a critical procedure in the sea transport of goods.
The acronym VGM stands for Verified Gross Mass and refers to a container’s verified gross mass. In fact, the information is derived from the sum of the net weight of the goods and the tara of the container.
This is a required piece of information to communicate in international sea freight transport. As a result, VGM weighing must be precise and cannot be approximate.
The requirement to weigh dates back to July 1, 2016, when an amendment to Chapter VI of SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea), an international convention of the IMO (International Maritime Organization), was enacted following the Titanic disaster.
The amendment, in particular, concerns cargo transport and aims to improve sea safety, particularly the protection of human lives. This system, in fact, is nearing completion and will provide reliable data on ship cargo calculations.
How is VMG weighing determined?
The weighing system, according to VGM, can be operated in two modes.
The first previews that the container is weighed after it has been loaded, closed, and sealed, on a private or public certified weigh. After that, the weight of the vehicle, trailer, and fuel in the tank is subtracted.
The second method, on the other hand, allows you to calculate the VGM value by adding the weight of the goods loaded, the materials used for setting and packaging, and the tare of the container.
Whatever method is used, the measurement system must meet the standards of the country in which the operation is performed.
Why is it such an important operation?
The container cannot be loaded onto the ship without VGM. As a result, the operation is critical for the safe and correct international shipping of goods by sea.
To avoid potential delays caused by the performance of some of the procedures required by SOLAS, such as the weighing of goods, Marfreight assists its customers at every stage of the transport service by transmitting all information about the load to the shipping carrier on time. This will reduce transport times while avoiding accidents and difficulties.
International shippings by sea, weekly and direct, that are able to go to the United States, from Salerno, in just 12 days. A new challenge that has started from the last 1st of October.
Just in that date, in fact, the full container ship Velika Express has left the port of Salerno, opening the new ultra fast connection line, going directly to New York, Norfolk and Savannah.
An opportunity able to make Campania a central junction for trade with US and that comes in a particular moment, which has seen a decrease of the traffic of the 15% in the port of Salerno, in the first six months of 2022.
The Cargo ship of the German Hapag Lloyd is, until today, the fastest line that is able to connect Italy with the new Continent. A fast route that opens to the new connection with UK and North Europe which will start around mid-month.
The fast transport by sea Salerno-New York is a great opportunity for the italian agro-industry, and in particular for the one in Campania, that has in the american market an important commercial interlocutor. The speed of the new connections, in fact, guarantees an element of great competitivity for the italian economy, towed by the agro-food industry itself.
In the last days, Giovanni De Angelis, Anicav general manager, the national association of italian canners, has pointed out how, for the transport by sea, the port of Salerno is strategic, representing the first stopping place for the canned sector. Tinned tomatoes, for example, that can be found on the american, english or north Europe tables depart from here.
The costs of sea freight we have faced, the increase of energy costs and all the labour costs, have stressed the canning industry. Fastest ships, and more convenient, could improve the situation. As long as we work even in terms of actions and infrastructural investments to strengthen the integrated logistics.
Do you want to know more? Contact us, without any obligation, to have the best pricing for your international transport by sea.