Spain: The strategic trade hub

Spain: The gateway to Europe, and beyond Integrating its global strengths with local capabilities, ECU Worldwide Spain has emerged as a dominant player in the international market

Spain is in acceleration mode. A booming economy, rising income levels, expanding trade volumes and surging e-commerce operations have catapulted Spain to the list of top performers in the European market. The country’s logistics and transport sector is one of the key beneficiaries of this economic renaissance, with a growth index higher than the GDP. Keeping pace with this impressive growth trajectory, Allcargo Logistics’ ECU Worldwide Spain is charting an aggressive growth plan to assert its status as a leading logistics operator in the country.

Strategic hub

The logistics boom took off in Spain about five years ago, and each year since then has set new records. In 2018 itself, 931,000 square metres of space was absorbed by the logistics sector in Madrid and its outlying areas alone. The capital’s A-2 road is today home to 5.7 million square metres of logistics operations. The area’s potential is phenomenal given its close proximity to the air links provided by Barajas airport. Meanwhile, the strategic situation of Spain is set for a major expansion to handle the increasing trade traffic. ”Asia needs a distribution point for its products going to Latin America, Europe and Africa and vice-versa, and Spain is the perfect geographical hub for these trade lines,” says Neus Martin Gonzalez, Country Manager, ECU Worldwide Spain, adding that the booming logistics sector offers increasing opportunities for an established player like ECU Worldwide Spain.

Preferred Partner

Backed by the global presence of Allcargo with resources and solid networks around the world, ECU Worldwide Spain enjoys huge equity in the Spanish market — and the region. Nowadays, customers prefer to rely on the world’s No.1 LCL player — the only consolidator with presence in over 160 countries, with more than 300 own offices serving over 2400 direct trade lines. ”Achieving excellence in logistics necessitates adaptation to new processes and the ‘now and here’ demands of the sector demand optimised flow of goods in terms of time, information and costs,” says Ms Martin, adding that ECU Worldwide is the right partner with the right tools, befitting a global and yet local logistics provider. ”Clients can depend on us for forwarding any consignment to any part of the world,” says Ms Martin.

In terms of the main markets that ECU Worldwide Spain services, Asia and China are top on the charts. Besides, India, USA, Central and South America are the other key economic powerhouses with strong trade links to and through Spain.

Redefining Processes

Even as digitisation is storming every sector, Spanish freight forwarding still runs on traditional models, but change is round the corner. For instance, blockchain technology is making rapid inroads in Spain. Full and greater transparency from end-to-end across the logistics chain, with tools that allow verification without calls or emails between the parties involved, is making blockchain popular among all stakeholders in the logistics sector — right from shippers and consignees to freight forwarders and carriers. ”Use of blockchain will not only save time and money, but the technology also improves visibility and optimizes the flow of information and goods,” says Ms Martin.

An organisation heavily invested in technology, ECU Worldwide Spain is ready for the transformative change with new technology initiatives and investments to create strategic assets for the near future. For instance, the recent launch of ECU 360 tool has been a big success. ECU 360 facilitates a faster and better exchange of information in real time. Within a few clicks clients can book, track, trace and access all the historical data without human intervention, with the application offering all the convenience for a smooth, efficient process.

People First

Building and nurturing strong relationships is at the core of ECU Worldwide’s business philosophy, and the same culture has deep roots in the Spanish operations. Complementing the company’s 10 dedicated offices in the region, ECU Worldwide Spain is manning the operations from Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia through a 27—member strong local team-providing a bouquet of logistics services, from LCL and FCL to cross-trade services. ”Even when it comes to our external associates, we prefer to call them partners rather than suppliers,” says Ms Martin, adding that it takes years of working together as a team to be able to give the high level of efficient customer service that ECU Worldwide Spain delivers. A testimony to the commitment levels and ownership among the team members is a recent employee survey where one statement figured prominently — ”I am proud of the institution we are building” — clearly reflecting the involvement and passion of the people working at ECU Worldwide Spain at all levels.