Ecommerce not dying, just 'growing up', say forwarders as EU change looms

Looming EU de minimis changes will "reset" the business landscape, but forwarders should cool their fears of any immediate impact, suggestions are that the changes will present a host of opportunities for logistics operators to find new margins. From 1 July, the EU will terminate its de minimis exemption for low-value imports, meaning parcels valued at less than €150 will be subject to a flat customs duty of €3, with a handling fee expected to be €2, taking effect in September. DHL Express Europe's chief executive, Mike Parra, told The Loadstar: "While we expect this change to fundamentally alter the trading landscape for B2C commerce, we do not believe its impact will be immediately felt in July. "Nor do I expect it to derail business, but it will increase the criteria for moving goods into Europe, which will result in some volatility - most likely in September - for final mile and delivery as businesses get used to the changes." The associated fees will remain in place for at least two years as the bloc "negotiates a new unified customs regime" in the face of the rapid influx of cheap consumer goods from China propelled by the Covid-induced spike in ecommerce sales. Forwarders - including big multinationals like DHL - have already experienced the impact of de minimis ending when the US scrapped its own exemption on goods valued below $800 last year, upending forwarder working patterns. One SME forwarder told The Loadstar: "Before the termination, customs classification, HTS coding, bulk consolidation, FTZ and bonded warehouse strategies used to be back-office, but now they are the front-line product. "We are seeing some customer migration from direct cross-border parcel into US-based bulk and fulfilment. Freighters that used to fly ecommerce parcels are repositioning into general cargo lanes, and rates on those routes have softened. It is a recalibration, not a collapse." Nor were they alone, several North American forwarders noted that the end of the exemption was leading to a shift away from handling single items and fragmented B2C parcel clearance toward consolidated B2B2C import structures. For those willing to tap into the changes, opportunities are emerging to support multichannel e-commerce flows by combining services, like B2B and B2C fulfilment, customs services, and bonded warehousing operations. Co-owner of Argents Tony Chiappetta said: "The headline is not 'e-commerce is dying' but 'it is growing up'. The supply chain has to look like real again with declared values, real duties, real compliance and real partners managing it. This is a healthier industry, not a smaller one."

UPS boosts healthcare operations with temperature-controlled cross-dock facilities

UPS has invested $48m in 27 temperature-controlled freight cross-dock facilities around the world to support its healthcare logistics operations. Located in key US and international markets, including Europe, Asia and the Americas, these facilities are optimised for speed and short-term storage between air and ground movements - all while maintaining specific temperature requirements. The temperature-controlled freight cross-dock facilities are all compliant with IATA CEIV Pharma certification. UPS pointed out that the single integrated network eliminates handoffs between providers, reducing risk and increasing control, while greater accountability and real-time oversight protect high-value, temperature-sensitive products from excursion and disruption. A 24/7/365 control tower proactively monitors shipments, flags risks and enables rapid intervention to keep critical products moving. The announcement strengthens UPS's global cold-chain network as demand grows for medicines requiring strict temperature ranges of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, 15 to 25 degrees Celsius and frozen. Industry demand for temperature-sensitive biologics is projected to expand at an 8.3% compound annual growth rate through 2033, reaching an estimated $39.1bn, according to Growth Market Reports. Meeting this demand requires cold-chain expertise to maintain product quality and safety from manufacturing to patient. "We have aligned our investments with our Healthcare customers' specialized needs," said Kate Gutmann, executive vice president and president of International, Healthcare and Supply Chain Solutions at UPS. "Our global cross-dock facilities strengthen our end-to-end cold-chain capabilities to ensure critical treatments are delivered safely and reliably to patients around the world. "This effort - and all of our work in healthcare logistics - extends from a deep understanding that we're doing more than moving packages. We are helping patients access the medications and treatments they need." The rapidly growing biologics pipeline is increasing complexity across cold-chain logistics. According to PharmaSource, roughly one in three newly approved drugs today is a biologic more than 85% of those requiring temperature-controlled handling. As therapies like cell and gene treatments, mRNA platforms and GLP-1 injectables come to market, healthcare supply chains are becoming more complex and risk-sensitive. Temperature excursions are a key driver of that risk, with cold-chain failures estimated to cost up to $35bn annually and, according to WHO, contributing to up to 50% of global vaccine waste. "Biologics and personalized treatments are driving better, more targeted care for patients," said John Bolla, president of UPS Healthcare. "These investments reflect our commitment to continue to align our leading end-to-end supply chain to protect innovative treatments and diagnostics, supporting better patient outcomes." UPS's cross-dock expansion builds on a long-term investment in complex healthcare logistics, strengthened through acquisitions including Bomi Group, Frigo Trans and BPL in Europe and Andlauer Healthcare Group in North America. More recently, UPS expanded its Incheon, Korea air hub to support fast-growing pharmaceutical trade flows, as South Korea imported nearly $9.7bn in pharmaceutical products in 2025, according to Observatory of Economic Complexity data.

Baltic Exchange expands airfreight spot indices with new China routes

The Baltic Exchange and TAC Innovation have expanded their airfreight spot indices with the addition of three new routes out of Shanghai in response to increased market volatility. The new indices will cover routes from Shanghai to Central Europe, the US west coast and the US mid-west> They join existing spot indices originating from Hong Kong, India and the Republic of Korea. The BAI Spot offerings are used by airlines, freight forwarders and shippers to assess rate movements and benchmark contract negotiations, as well as forming the basis for hedging discussions and strategies. The two partners said that the launch of the new routes comes in response to market demand for more origins in key Asian export hubs, with airfreight rate volatility increasing amid geopolitical disruption in the Middle East, heightened jet fuel costs, reduced belly-hold capacity and increased demand for time-sensitive goods. They added that the increased volatility experienced in recent months means hedging discussions are developing rapidly into "demand for real and usable tools to manage price risk for air cargo". "BAI Spot rates have increased by as much as 80% in the last two months, and hedging instruments are essential to navigate these price movements," they said, adding: "The development is also designed to capture the growing trade in high-value electronics and semiconductors, as well as pharmaceuticals and e-commerce goods, from China to the US." Plans are also underway to launch more routes, with origins ranging from Hanoi and Frankfurt, as well as North and South America within the next 12 months. Mark Jackson, chief executive of Baltic Exchange, said: "Baltic Exchange and TAC Innovation continue to closely collaborate to build a transparent and data-driven framework for the global air cargo market during a time of global volatility in airfreight rates." John Peyton Burnett, founder and managing director of TAC Innovation, added: "The extension of BAI Spot to include routes out of Shanghai will provide much-needed transparency to an air cargo market that increasingly relies on data for developing routes out of key markets. The new BAI Spot routes ensure that market participants can navigate the current volatility with greater confidence and use these solutions to solve critical pain points." The indices are designed for settling index-linked physical contracts (ILAs), price benchmarking, and risk management solutions, such as futures and derivatives.