Contship and SRM Release New Study on Italian Logistics Corridors

Contship Italia Group, in partnership with SRM - Studi e Ricerche per il Mezzogiorno (The center for economic studies and research part of Intesa Sanpaolo Group), on 16th April published its second analysis on the efficiency of logistics corridors for containerized cargoes, with a goal to provide an updated data-set and valuable insights to supply chain operators and public authorities, to help them understand and interpret the expectations and level of satisfaction of cargo owners, as well as the opportunities to improve the performance of logistics corridors in times of disruption.

The 2020 edition of the report “Corridors and logistics efficiency of territories” continues to explore how (1) the point of origin and destination of trades, (2) the availability of maritime services and (3) logistics infrastructures determine the choice of specific corridors by the 400 Italian manufacturing companies of Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna – the three main Italian exporting regions that account for 40% of Italy’s GDP and 52.7% of Italy’s total export prior to the outbreak of Covid-19.

Satisfaction Level Slightly Increased in the Quality Logistics Italian Index

This year, the Quality Logistics Italian Index (QLI2) remains the core feature of the study to evaluate the preference and satisfaction level in 4 main categories – 1) Services, 2) Costs, 3) Infrastructures and 4) Sustainability.

The QLI2 index shows that manufacturers in Lombardy have the highest expectations for the performance of the logistics corridors they use, but at the same time seem to be quite satisfied with the overall quality of their logistics options. The disparity between the importance of the services and the level of companies’ satisfaction in Emilia Romagna narrowed, indicating that the overall quality of available services is improving. 

Among the three regions, the wider gap between preference and satisfaction is registered in Veneto region – indicating the urgent need to further improve the overall quality of the services provided to industrial clusters and manufacturing companies located in this region.

Externalizing logistics

Coming as a surprise this year is that, while 69% of companies are outsourcing their export logistics, more than half of the companies preferred managing their import logistics in-house. This is an interesting trend which might indicate an increasing awareness of the strategic role of inbound logistics; we look forward to further explore the cause behind this going forward.

Starting a business with a sustainability goal

Although only 16% of respondents stated they managed the issue of sustainability through a model of governance and continuous engagement with stakeholders, over half of these companies said they have done so since starting the business. Metrics are still focused on "choice of materials of the packaging" and only to a lesser extent on energy consumption. 36% of the companies stressed however that within the next two years their own customers will have increased the awareness towards sustainability factors as part of their purchasing choices.

The district of the Prosecco of Conegliano Valdobbiadene 

Among the novelties of the 2020 edition, in addition to a panel re-modelling with an increase in representation of the chemical-pharmaceutical sector, the study also features Prosecco of Conegliano Valdobbiaden district, one of the most famous “Made in Italy” districts in the country. Interestingly, the area shows a greater propensity to the intermodal transport mode. Meanwhile, among different QLI2 factors, customers also value sustainability more.

Two polls were conducted during a presentation webinar today with a wide range of participants spanning from logistics operators and shippers, to intermodal companies and port authorities, to institutions and universities. Around 35% of respondents believe that during the post-Covid19 recovery phase, the Italian government should step up and invest in infrastructure (railway and intermodal centers) to increase capacity and movement on logistics corridors in order to simplify and facilitate the movement of goods in import and export. On the other hand, just 9% think the Italian government should invest in customs to streamline and speed up checks. 

As regards Italian shippers’ predilection for the use of the Ex Works clause in exports trade, the majority of survey respondents, 37%, believed the root cause is to be found in the desire to avoid managing transport risks. 33% believes instead that this predilection is due to habit and a lack of knowledge of the alternatives. Only 8% of respondents believed this is due to wanting to keep the price of goods low and be more competitive. 

"We are positively surprised by the interest and dialogue generated by this report over the past two years. This project was initiated to build up a monitoring centre that helps examine and track how market sentiments evolve by conducting detailed interviews of manufacturing companies.” - Daniele Testi, Marketing and Communication Director of the Contship Italia Group commented.

“This goal remains as our focus in the second edition of the study in collaboration with our partners SRM. We believe it can also inspire us to focus our energies and investments needed for Italy’s economy to restore its competitiveness. It is necessary and I also believe that by sharing the study with different but related parties, manufacturing companies and logistics operators can put their heads together on access modalities and development of the logistics corridors. Strong collaboration among manufacturing, logistics, research and credit organizations are much needed to rebuild value-added logistics for “Made in Italy” products,” Testi added.
 
Alessandro Panaro, Head of the Maritime & Mediterranean Economy research area for SRM, added : “The fruitful collaboration continues between SRM and the Contship Group. We are proud of this work, which represents the constructive dialogue among research, manufacture and logistics operators.”

The report was presented on Thursday 16th April 2020, through an online webinar. Please click here to download the full presentation. Full video recording presentation is also available for view.