Long-awaited rendezvous with global colleagues and insights into where the logistics industry is headed next.
Our crew from the MC Containers Hamburg office participated in the international Breakbulk Europe event in Rotterdam on the 17-19th May 2022.
The event was very popular and attracted a lot of logistics experts from all over Europe. During the pandemic, Breakbulk as well as many other fairs, have been postponed several times, which made the atmosphere surrounding the event very tangible and excited.
”This was our first fair since COVID hit. Especially in the logistics industry, networking and meeting partners are crucial to ensure effective cooperation. During the fair, we managed to agree on new partnerships and strengthen our brand in Europe”, says Jesse Mattson who is the CEO of Mattson Containers GmbH in Hamburg.
The event was filled with countless in-depth conversations about the current state and future of logistics. Here is a quick recap of the themes that we discussed with the other participants.
The fact is that the big things that have happened over the past few years, like the COVID 19 pandemic, have all accumulated and led us to the current situation in 2022 where the main ports in Europe are filled to the brim. Furthermore, port congestion causes e.g. changes in supply chains and delays in delivery schedules both for B2B and B2C operators. Finally, the recent changes in the European security situation have also had concrete implications for international trucking; There is currently a considerable lack of truck drivers in Europe, partly due to the many Ukrainian professional drivers returning to Ukraine.
These aspects combined lead us to the following opinion: the logistics industry and supply chains are still in trouble and unfortunately there is no change in sight. In the light of current information, our own assessment is that the congestion at European ports will start to resolve itself and normalize slowly during next year.
We also discussed the overall direction where the global logistics industry is headed and some of the changes that will take place in the near future. One of the most prominent trends is the global emergence of green values, which will strongly shape the development of the industry in the future.
MC Containers is a trusted partner of European companies for containers and logistics.