Competition Benchmarking of Top Logistics Players in UAE in Transportation, Warehousing, 3PL, International Express, Domestic Express, Automotive, Pharma, Oil and Gas and Retail Logistics

The Logistics industry in the UAE is one of the top 5 logistics markets in the world, given the favourable location of UAE at the intersection of Asia, Africa & Europe. Growth in the industry has been stimulated due to the high ease of doing business in the Emirates, due to which the country is home to a lot of global and multi-national brands.

The industry is home to an extremely strong Freight Forwarding segment, driven by the UAE’s position as a key facilitator for global re-exports. Moreover, given its high dependence on Imports for Consumer Products and Technology, the UAE has strong trade relations with far-Eastern countries, European countries and the US. Given its oil-producing capabilities, the country relies heavily on Sea Freight as a mode of cargo transport, with the service being almost a common feature amongst freight forwarding companies in the country. The UAE also has a strong warehousing market segment, driven by players that lease warehousing space for long durations of time. Warehousing operations near to the Jebel Ali Port and Dubai Airport are considered most favourable to reduce the transportation cost from port to mother-hub. The Courier, Express and Parcel market is driven by growth in Last-Mile deliveries and the E-Commerce segment in the country.

Challenges for Logistics Market in the UAE

Over-dependence on Imports: Levels of domestic manufacturing in the country have remained very low since 2009. On the account of this industries have majorly required freight forwarding services from logistics service providers during this period. This has left very limited scope for end-to-end logistics services in country. Moreover, small size of the domestic manufacturing has forced the logistics companies to serve the international markets in the recent years which have made cost effectiveness very important.

Limited Progress in E-Payment Gateways: The sophistication level in the country’s e-payment gateways has been well below as compared to more developed international retail markets over the period. Cash on delivery has been the most preferred mode of payment for online shipments in UAE over the past five years.

Limited Options in Surface Transportation: While the UAE possesses a top notch sea and air transportation network, the options available in surface transportation have remained limited since 2009. Companies can send consolidated freight only by road as there is a lack of an efficient rail network in the country. Due to this the contribution of road transport in the overall logistics revenues of the country has remained significantly low over the past five years, especially when compared to logistics markets in countries like Saudi Arabia

Competition Overview

The competition in the Logistics space in the UAE can be divided on the basis of different service segments including Freight Forwarding, Contract Logistics (Warehousing) and Express Delivery.

International players such as Kuehne + Nagel, DB Schenker, DHL, Agility were identified to be dominant when it comes to Air Freight and Sea Freight, simply due to the large MNC accounts managed by these companies and the strong volumes they transport from international markets to the UAE. When it comes to Land Freight, local companies such as Avalon, Allied Transport, ATS, Mohebi Logistics and NTDE were identified to be most dominant, because of their trucking fleet in the Emirates. 

While the International Express market in the UAE is concentrated among majorly global players such as DHL, FedEx and UPS, the Domestic Express market is more fragmented due to heavy competition among local players such as Zajel Courier Services, Skynet, and Time Express. Emirates Post is a government owned entity that leads the Domestic Express market.

Future Growth

While the COVID-19 situation has hit global supply chains largely, the UAE has been comparatively less impacted. The logistics market in the country is expected to grow on the back of new technologies such as Automation, Blockchain and Internet of Things, which will be explored to increase efficiency, improve customer experience and enhance service quality. The pharma logistics segment and the e-commerce logistics segment are expected to drive growth in the future, given the expected increase in medical products requirements post COVID-19 and the growing penetration of e-commerce in the country.

Key Topics Covered in the Report

• UAE Logistics Industry Overview
• UAE Logistics Industry Market Size by Sub-Service, 2015-2025
• UAE Logistics Industry Market Size by Vertical, 2015-2025
• UAE Logistics Sub-Service Market Segmentation by End User Verticals, 2019-2025
• UAE Warehousing Market Segmentation by Type of Warehouses, 2019
• Competitive Landscape including Major Players in each Service Segment, 2019
• Competitive Landscape including Major Players in each Vertical Segment, 2019
• Cross-Comparison of Major Freight Forwarding and Express Players, 2019
• Company Profiles of Major Players in each Segment
• Major Trade Lanes for Land Freight, Sea Freight, Air Freight and International Express, 2019
• Pricing Analysis for Major Players by Service Mix, 2019