Dennis Lenthe Olesen: “We can expect global disruptions to continue”

The world is changing, on many levels and at a fast pace, which also affects the global value chain. After a prolonged pandemic, we began to see some relief to come in the supply chain, until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine put further strains on logistics flows.

Dennis Lenthe Olesen, MD at APM Terminals Nordic, explains what is happening in the global logistics world. We can continue to help you during these uncertain times.

How has the pandemic affected the global value chain?

"The consequences of the pandemic are that vessels continue to find it difficult to keep to their schedules. In fact, seven out of ten vessels come outside their pro forma window. This puts a great deal of pressure on the flexibility of world ports.

At APM Terminals, we have done our utmost to serve our customers and maintain our high level of flexibility through the pandemic, and we will continue to do so."

The big question is, what will happen next?

"The future of logistics is difficult to predict. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the forecast indicated that the global value chain would return to a reasonably normal situation by the end of 2022. Unfortunately, given the current situation, we can expect the logistical disruptions to continue during 2023 as well."

What will be important for transport buyers in the future?

We see three clear trends that have accelerated during the pandemic and are expected to continue in the coming years:

• Sustainability. The demand for sustainable transport is increasing sharply.
• Digitisation. Transparency and control in the value chain are becoming increasingly important, especially in uncertain times when there is an increasing need to identify disruptions and, if necessary, redirect flows.
• Nearshoring and onshoring. We are seeing that many companies are choosing to move all or parts of their production and warehousing closer to their markets as a way of securing their deliveries.