BCR, a leading Australian-owned 3PL provider that offers international freight forwarding and contract logistics solutions, is proud to announce the opening of a new full service warehousing facility in Adelaide. The facility, which was developed in partnership with Air Menzies, adds South Australia to the list of full service warehouses in strategic locations that BCR offers to its customers. The BCR national network of warehousing facilities includes locations in Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide. BCR customers can now hold large or small amounts of stock closer to their customers which improves their customer service by offering same day or next day deliveries.

The volume of freight that is imported and exported in and out of Australia has more than doubled over the last twenty years, and it is expected to increase by almost 110 per cent from 5.5 to 11.4 billion tonne kilometres by 2030. Volumes and risks in freight forwarding are increasing simultaneously. 90 per cent of products are shipped at least once in their life cycle, which means almost every manufacturing or non-manufacturing company in Australia needs to use freight forwarding services. While exporting or importing, do you face challenges with Customs clearance, correct documentation, foreign currency transactions, and slow follow-ups from your international freight company? Has your cargo been detained due to the wrong labelling or is your freight cost increasing the landed costs of your products? These are the crucial freight risks being faced by every importer or exporter in Australia. All Australian companies trading globally face these risks irrespective of their level of expertise in managing international freight. Read on to learn more about freight risks and how you reduce the risk for your business.

Each month we provide a brief update for businesses that import to Australia from around the world on sea freight services. In this month’s update, learn about the removal of 20 per cent of shipping capacity and the associated sea freight services GRI from North East Asia to Australia, new surcharges on international sea freight exports from the USA and the recently announced industrial dispute affecting Australian (Melbourne, Sydney and Fremantle) terminals.

Earlier this year, details on the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) were announced. More recently, legislation was presented to the House of Representatives that include a tentative start date of 1 December 2014. Today, Australian Customs announced to customs brokers and the industry that the KAFTA will enter into force on 12 December 2014. Read on to learn about the benefits for exporters and importers, and why you need a certificate of origin to qualify.

More Australian companies are importing and exporting their cargo using air freight in Brisbane. According to the Brisbane Airport, in the first half of 2014, import air freight volumes increased to over 15 million kg compared to approximately 14 million kg in 2010. Many freight forwarders offer air freight in Brisbane and some even offer instant air freight quotes. The term instant is certainly attractive when the focus on speed, but many times shippers end up disappointed as the instant quote ends up being pretty far from the final costs.
Read on to learn 4 common confusions about instant quotes for air freight in Brisbane and some useful tips to avoid disappointment.

Each week we are approached by Australian businesses that are interested in utilising our import LCL (less than container load) services. In particular, many of these businesses import regularly from multiple suppliers in China. LCL shipments are cost efficient in that you only pay for what you need, but importing using multiple LCL shipments can increase your international freight forwarding costs quite substantially. Read on to learn more about the problems associated with importing to Australia using too many LCL shipments and how buyer’s consolidation can assist to lower your international freight forwarding costs.