With the advancement of globalization, commercial exchanges become increasingly recurrent, increasing the movement of goods between countries. This can be verified when we evaluate the export and import curves of Brazil, which despite having some drops in certain periods, have a strong tendency to growth, mainly the export activity.
Export Volume Over the Years in Brazil (thousand ton) – 1997 – 2018
Figure 1 – Ministry of Economy, Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, ILOS Analysis
Import Volume Over the Years in Brazil (thousand ton) – 1997 – 2018
Figure 2 – Ministry of Economy, Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, ILOS Analysis
In 2018, both activities together were responsible for handling 857 million tons, with the main mode of transport used being maritime, which handled 816 million tons, equivalent to 96% of the total [1].
Most of the volume transported by navigation is due to the export and import of solid and liquid bulk, mainly due to the economic characteristics of Brazil. The rest of the cargo (which would fall under general cargo) is transported practically by means of containers, representing approximately 8% of the total transported [2] being, therefore, one of the main and most important means of transport for general cargo.
Container transport basically takes place in 4 stages, namely road transport, storage, cargo handling and navigation. All steps occur in both directions (import and export) and are important in the chain process.
Figure 3 – Container import and export movements
Source: ILOS
Within this context, it is easy to identify the role of road and sea transport and cargo handling at terminals, but what purpose does the storage stage serve within this context?
Storage occurs mainly due to the performance of necessary services before shipment and after receiving cargo. These services involve bureaucratic steps, such as, for example, customs clearance, an activity that must be carried out with the customs to enter and exit the country's goods, and also the logistics of the terminals, with activities aimed at the dispatch and handling of the cargo, such as stuffing containers, stuffing and unloading containers, among others.
Although storage occurs in both directions of movement, it has differences between the import and export operation, mainly in relation to complexity and, consequently, its profitability to the terminal. Exports have a smaller range of services and require less know-how, involving more operational services, such as stuffing containers, but also bureaucratic services, such as customs clearance, which, in this case, is more simplified and agile in terms of compared to imports, making storage faster and simpler. On the other hand, imports, due to greater bureaucracy, offer a greater range of services and have more fiscal procedures, bringing with them the unloading of containers, inspections of closed containers and goods, internal transfers, among other operational services. In addition, there is the complexity of its customs clearance, which in this case involves the nationalization of the cargo, a process that requires many details to be carried out. All these factors make import storage a slower and more complex process, requiring greater know-how. As a result of the difference in complexity, there is also the difference in the profitability of the operations, which makes imports much more monetarily advantageous for the terminals, with profitability reaching 3 times greater than that of export operations.
In addition to the difference between the movement directions, there are also differences regarding the method used to load a container, namely the FCL (full container load) and the LCL (less container load). As the names themselves suggest, the FCL is the modality in which the exporter has enough cargo to carry all the space of a container, thus binding only one BL (bill of landing) to the container in question. LCL, on the other hand, is the fractional modality, in which more than one exporter occupies the same container, thus associating more than one BL per container [4].
For the storage process, the type of container is extremely important, as it defines the complexity of the operation. The FCL container is simpler to handle, as it has cargo from only one shipper, while in the LCL modality it is necessary to manage loads from more than one shipper per container, requiring more space, more equipment and greater know-how to handle the dropped loads. This is also directly reflected in the profitability of the operations, since the services destined to each fraction of an LCL lot have profitability comparable to the services destined to a full load of an FCL container, making the LCL modality bring profitability at least 2 times higher and may reach much higher values than the FCL modality, according to the number of BLs in the container. This makes the service attractive for terminals, however requiring more space and greater complexity to run.
It is notable that storage is a necessary and highly complex service in the container transport chain, involving crucial steps and also being able to bring great profitability to those who carry it out. In this way, it can be a good option for terminals that seek more profit with diversification of services, and also with the purpose of attracting more cargo from shipowners, since with a greater range of services, the terminal starts to offer a complete treatment of chain for import and export cargo.
Sources:
[1] Ministry of Economy, Industry, Foreign Trade and Services
[2] ANTAQ
[3] https://ibid.com.br/blog/desembaraco-aduaneiro-o-que-e-e-como-funciona/
[4] https://blog.gs1br.org/fcl-e-lcl-entenda-o-que-significam-no-transporte-de-cargas/
[5] https://portogente.com.br/portopedia/72905-terminal-portuario-e-retro-portuario
[6] https://cnrinternational.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/quais-sao-as-fases-da-presenca-de-carga-no-terminal-alfandegado-na-importacao-maritima/
[7] https://www.portual.com.br/blog/precisa-saber-sobre-despacho-aduaneiro/