"9 out of 10 Online Export Companies Face Logistics Challenges"

Logistics Costs, Delivery Times, and Export Customs Clearance Are Major Challenges

Small and Medium Business Corporation

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Amid the ongoing global logistics crisis, a survey found that 9 out of 10 online export companies are currently experiencing logistics difficulties. The Small and Medium Business Corporation (Chairman Kim Hak-do, hereafter SMB Corporation) announced the results of a survey on logistics usage by online export companies on the 15th, revealing these findings.

According to the survey, the vast majority of online export companies (89.1%) reported currently facing logistics challenges, citing high logistics costs such as air and sea freight (81.7%), delivery times (45%), and export customs clearance (20.7%) as the main difficulties.

Logistics can be divided into three stages: domestic logistics, international transportation, and importing country logistics. Companies reported experiencing the greatest difficulties at the international transportation stage (53.6%).

The main export declaration methods were identified as entrusting logistics (customs) companies (59.3%), formal export declarations (32.8%), and simplified export declarations (30.5%). In import customs clearance, companies faced challenges such as understanding country-specific regulations and systems (67.7%) and processing delays (66.3%). The countries causing the most difficulties were China (31.8%), the United States (30.5%), and Southeast Asia (26.4%), in that order.

To resolve import customs clearance difficulties, companies expressed the need for support such as ▲integrated provision of country-specific customs and certification information (68%) ▲automated overseas import customs processing services (59.9%) ▲country-specific customized service provision (47.2%).

Additionally, only 18.7% of respondent companies used digital logistics services that provide logistics company quote comparisons or delivery status tracking. Dissatisfaction was noted regarding cost reduction effects (29.9%) and the low reliability of provided freight information (23.9%).

The logistics areas requiring urgent support were identified as ▲reduction of logistics unit costs (55.4%) ▲digital export customs support (38.5%) ▲provision of digital logistics platforms offering full logistics services (36%) ▲digital logistics brokerage platforms (31%). Furthermore, 90.6% of companies expressed willingness to use government-led logistics platforms if established.

Chairman Kim Hak-do emphasized, "Through this survey, we were able to understand the various difficulties online export companies face amid the ongoing global logistics crisis. The SMB Corporation will support the digitalization of logistics and the elimination of logistics information gaps to strengthen the global competitiveness of export SMEs."