Germany, France and the Benelux states are feeling the affects of the global economic slowdown. These are the current numbers on the Timocom transport barometer which the IT company uses every quarter to document the development of transport offers and requests on Europe’s largest freight exchange.
The number of freight offers made on the market via Timocom from the beginning of April to the end of June 2019 was 20 percent lower than in the same quarter last year. “The US government’s protectionist economic policies are hampering global trade, which in turn reduces the amount of goods exported. Export oriented countries such as Germany, France and the Benelux states are suffering the worst effects,” says Timocom Business Analyst David Moog.
In total, 21.82 million offers were placed in the second quarter via the “Smart App Freight”, through which companies can post and process their freight transport offers on the freight exchange; In the same quarter of the previous year, this number was still at 27.56 million. Most of the decline is related to the transport of industrial and capital goods, including from the supply industry, says David Moog.
The impending Brexit is also taking its toll. “After transport to Britain increased in the first quarter as companies increased the amount of goods in stock, we are now seeing a market downturn,” said David Moog. The number of exports from Europe to the United Kingdom in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter of 2019 decreased by 56 per cent, according to Timocom.
The trend defies the export development in southern Europe. Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, with an increase of 21 per cent from April to June, transported considerably more goods to other European countries than in the same quarter of the previous year. David Moog: “The fruit and vegetable season is currently in full swing in these countries.”
The instrument of the Transport Barometer analyzes the development of transport supply and demand on the freight exchange integrated in the Timocom Smart Logistics System on a quarterly basis. With more than 130,000 users and up to 750,000 international holdall and freight offerings daily, the IT company operates Europe’s largest digital road freight transport system.
