Consolidation to continue as logistics market grows

Mergers and acquisitions are to continue in the expanding logistics services sector said Essa Al-Saleh, CEO and president of Global Integrated Logistics for Agility, speaking at the Airfreight Asia conference in Hong Kong.

“The global outsourced logistics market is set to grow to an estimated US$590 billion by 2010 from $440 billion this year, which will mean more opportunities for logistics companies to expand.

Much of the growth will be organic but there will also be a great deal of activity in mergers and acquisitions as consolidation continues.

Al-Saleh picked out China and India as having great potential for growth in terms of demand for logistics services in the next five years.

“Research shows that India and China combined have 40 percent of the world’s population but account for only seven per cent of global GDP, so there is scope for significant economic growth as their industry and trade develops. We see many opportunities in Asia in the years ahead,” said Al-Saleh.