China must avert supply chain crunch

Brian Lutt, president of APL Logistics said that the China trade surge has created unprecedented complexity, additional costs and potential choke points in thousands of international supply chains.

He recently warned delegates at the Transpacific Maritime Asia Conference in Shenzhen that these challenges will be magnified as China looks to spread wealth beyond the coast.

Brian Lutt said, ‘While the rest of the world failed to anticipate the speed of the production shift and build sufficient capacity, China has put money and minds to the task of staying ahead of trade demand growth.’

China’s outsourced logistics industry, already valued at around US$140 billion, is set to grow substantially as China’s supply chain moves further inland.

Brian Lutt said, ‘Players who have a range of ways to take products from China’s interior and transport them quickly to domestic or international destinations, while completing all the value-added logistics services along the way, are set to make the biggest gains.’