Report: Global contract logistics market grew 10% in 2006

Report: Global contract logistics market grew 10% in 2006 The global contract logistics market grew just under 10 percent last year, according to a report from United Kingdom-based Transport Intelligence.
   The study, Global Contract Logistics 2007, suggest that the market was driven by growth in the Asia Pacific region, which it said overtook North America for the first time to become the world's second largest market. Europe, the most mature market, “experienced solid if unspectacular growth.”
   Transport Intelligence said the regional growth rates disguised a “huge” national disparity in market growth. In Europe, Russia and Turkey led the way, while in Asia Pacific, the biggest growth was recorded by China, India and South Korea with Japan stagnating.
   In North America, the Mexican contract logistics sector advanced by double digits, helped by the return of “near-sourcing” by U.S. manufacturers and retailers.
   The Middle Eastern market is also buoyant due to the region's development as a major transport hub, investment in oil and construction projects and the growth of consumer markets. Latin America, however, is failing to live up to analysts' positive predictions.
   John Manners-Bell, Transport Intelligence’s chief analyst, expects to see more consolidation as logistics companies seek to best exploit the positive market conditions.
   “Over the past few years DHL Exel has built a massive advantage through acquisition to achieve a market share more than three times that of its nearest rival, CEVA,” he said.
   “What is of particular interest is that the top 10 companies account for just over 25 percent of the global market despite a decade of consolidation. This fragmentation hints at the likelihood of further mergers and acquisitions such as the recent takeover of Christian Salvesen by Norbert Dentressangle.” ' Simon Heaney