Global logistics and express market worth US$4trillion by 2013

Using its new Global Logistics and Express Analyser*, the UK-based independent business analyst has predicted that following a severe slump in 2009, logistics and express spend as a proportion of global GDP will regain its 2008 peak of 9.3% in 2013. A number of trends are however creating a challenging environment in which it will be harder to uncover opportunities for growth.

Demand will continue to shift away from North America and Europe to the emerging markets of Latin America, BRIC** and the Middle East. This trend is reflected in the fact that North America and Europe are expected to lose a 2.2% and 1.5% share of the global market by 2013, while Asia Pacific is expected to gain nearly 1.5%.

Datamonitor believes sustainability and cost-effectiveness will be two of the main drivers of the industry's development between now and 2013. This will result in a modal shift, with air freight losing ground to rail, road and sea.

Customers are looking for cost-effective solutions

Erik Van Baaren, senior logistics and express analyst at Datamonitor, said: "The global logistics and express market saw US$300 billion (about R2310 billion) of its value wiped out in 2009 alone, and even if the industry has started to enjoy a recovery in volumes, changing customer preferences, modal shifts, technological advancements, environmental concerns and other trends have fundamentally changed the landscape in which service providers have to re-establish themselves.

"Customers are looking for cost-effective solutions and, at the same time, shippers require sustainable transport solutions without compromising on quality of service.

"Sustainability measures will have a significant impact on shipping and transport companies' services and costs, and a holistic approach must be adopted which takes into account all aspects of sustainability and associated supply chain costs. However, these strategies need to take into account the inherent risks of reducing the performance of the industry for the sake of sustainability."

The effects of all these trends on the overall value and volume of the global logistics and express market as well as the geographical, modal and sector variance have been determined by Datamonitor and are now available through its new Global Logistics and Express Analyser tool.

* Datamonitor's new Global Logistics and Express Analyser maps out the market across all transport modes and logistics sectors for 60 countries, allowing users to analyse the market by mode - air, road, rail, sea and inland waterlines - across different regions and countries.

** Brazil, Russia, India, China