Prime Logistics Celebrates MIA’s Winning Achievements

The recent release of Miami Dade Aviation Department’s annual report on “U.S. and Worldwide Airport Rankings” serves to underscore that it truly is all about “location-location-location” in the world of logistics. It also reaffirms Prime Logistics’ right choice to establish its base of operations here 17 years ago, from which it could grow and prosper on the global stage. 

The big news is, for the year 2020, Miami International Airport (MIA) continued to be the Number 1 airport in the U.S. for international freight (followed by Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles). The report also highlights that MIA ranks 4th in total cargo (freight plus mail). In addition, MIA is Number 3 in total freight in the U.S., behind Memphis and Louisville, the hubs for FedEx and UPS, respectively. Miami Dade Aviation Department’s Marketing Division issued the report in August 2021.

On the global operations front, MIA came in at Number 9 in total cargo (freight plus mail), Number 8 in total freight, and Number 9 in international freight. Wow, three cheers for MIA!

Yet Another Powerful Report

Not coincidentally, following in the footsteps of this report was the release of the annual ranking by JD Power of the “Top 10 Mega Airports in North America,” with Miami international leading the pack here as well, at Number 2 in international passengers. This achievement reflects that over 100 airlines at MIA contribute to the year-round, two-way cargo traffic linking the Americas with high growth markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and beyond.

“We congratulate Miami Dade County leadership for its continued role in managing this world-class airport facility in a fashion that best serves the powerhouse of trade and commerce in the region,” said Omar Zambrano, COO of Prime Group, under which Prime Logistics operates.

It is also worth noting that the continued growth and success of MIA by default fuels the growth and success of the bordering City of Doral, the 11th fastest growing city in the entire country – and home of Prime Logistics’ global headquarters.

In the Shadow of MIA

Just minutes from the company’s Doral-based headquarters and warehouse is the MIA Cargo Hub. It serves as the world’s largest gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean, and controls the north/south cargo flows in the Western Hemisphere. Handling 79 percent of all air imports and 74 percent of all exports from the Latin America Caribbean region, MIA serves as the hub for distribution of perishable products like fresh flowers and produce, high-tech and telecommunications equipment, textiles, industrial machinery, and pharmaceuticals such as vaccines and medical supplies.

“Not surprisingly these are the very commodities that Prime Logistics has specialized in transporting over its 20 year history, the last 17 of which from Doral following the company’s move here from Quito in 2004,” says Zambrano. “As one of Prime Logistics’ most logical decisions ever, it is certainly paying off!”

At Home in Doral

Initially, Prime Logistics set up shop in a small warehouse of just 2,500 sqft. But as business grew, they continued to double their warehouse and office space over the years until moving into our current 20,000 sqft facility in 2018, just three miles from the MIA cargo zone. According to Zambrano, “In the warehouse, we offer 500 positions on rack, which is the right way to keep the cargo in good condition, as well as ample freezer capacity, and lot space designed to accommodate 53-foot trailers.”

Situated within the city limits of Doral, this light industrial area flanked by two major interstate highways and the western line of the airport also serves the company’s needs well due to the fact that so many of their local customers are likewise located here. “And obviously not all are in need of air cargo services alone – as such, Prime Logistics offers expert transport of a multitude of goods for customers worldwide via its ocean freight department,” he added.

It helps that the company’s Doral facility is also within just a half hour drive to PortMiami – another strong selling point for customers in the Southeast regional market.

Zambrano points out anther important fact mentioned in the Aviation Department report, one of key importance to the company’s international pharmaceutical industry customers: “MIA is the first airport in the Western Hemisphere and only the second in the world to be designated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as a pharmaceutical freight hub and a trusted industry leader in the transport of pharmaceuticals.”

Since the company’s founding in 2001, Zambrano says that Prime Logistics’ goal has been to provide direct access to all of the world’s major markets for commerce and trade – “and MIA has been key to putting us on a pathway to doing just that.”

Read the entire Miami Dade Aviation Department Report.

[LINK: https://www.miami-airport.com/library/pdfdoc/Rankings/2020%20Rankings%20-%20US%20and%20Worldwide.pdf]

About Prime Logistics

One of the four divisions of Prime Group, an international logistics services conglomerate founded in Ecuador in 2001, Prime Logistics serves to streamline, optimize, and expedite freight to and from the U.S. for a wide range of major industries.

With offices in Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Bogota, Quito, and Amsterdam, Prime Logistics capitalizes on its long-time relationships with the major air carriers and ocean lines, to offer competitive rates in securing ample space to destinations all around the world.

For information, call 305-592-2044 or visit www.primelogisticsgroup.com.

The Good, the Bad, and the Jolly of the Sustained Growth of E-Commerce

‘Tis the Season for Surges in e-Commerce  

It’s that time of year again as the Prime Group of companies, our global logistics customers, and our dedicated worldwide workforce ramp up efforts for 2021’s holiday retail season. Thankfully, e-commerce is booming – creating a torrent of consumer demand among our wholesale clients and retail industry businesses. In late September, eMarketer projected more than a trillion dollars in total retail holiday sales, $200 billion of that in online sales.

So, as this peak retail-buying season kicks off and people weary of the pandemic jump online to shop ‘till they drop, let’s all focus on the importance of keeping the global products pipeline “filled and flowing with goods.” Fortunately, the opportunities are sizable – ranging from the iconic “Black Friday” sales period (and increasingly, even several weeks before that) to the shopping weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanza, and New Year’s.

The Good
During this peak retail sales period – despite many of the persistent stresses along the supply chain – I truly believe there are tremendous opportunities for all of us to shine. At Prime Group, our mission is to provide to our wholesale customers, grocery industry clients, and retail industry suppliers the highest standards in global-logistics support so that their goods arrive in a smooth, safe, and on-time fashion. We know just how important it is economically for our customers to succeed this holiday season in fulfilling their clients’ much-needed “retail fix.”

Consumers concerned about the COVID-19 variants this fall are again depending on the safety, convenience, and reliability of e-commerce channels to buy gifts for friends and relatives – and goods for themselves. In addition, they’re also buying a bit earlier than in the past, as they read news about worsening shortages of the latest electronics and other high-demand goods, and the lack of ample transport capacity by air, land, and sea. That includes everything from the latest fashions to furniture, electronics, office supplies, fresh flowers and perishable foods.

Over the past two years we’ve certainly seen that grocery e-commerce is among the fastest-growing product categories. Increasingly, we’re serving retail grocery operations, distributors, and food-and-beverage businesses such as restaurants – and even the cruise lines. In step with this growing trend, we are now in a position better assist our clients due to the recent expansion of cold storage facilities across our global network. This further allows us to maintain a safe, cold supply chain for shipping temperature-sensitive fruits, vegetables, cheese, fish, and seafood – not to mention vaccines and other medical materials.

On the technology side, we’ve also beefed up our systems and processes, so we’re able to track and monitor customer shipments more closely and to better communicate with them as to the status of those shipments. The goal is to ensure fresh, safe and on-time delivery worldwide.

The Not So Good
The time is now upon us to ensure the holiday season is a successful period for all. Timing is critical. It’s important to recognize that the entire global supply chain is still wrestling with material shortages, lack of availability of certain goods, and manufacturing changes due to factory closures, but also down line due to port closures, air transport delays, and a general lack of transport equipment and capacity. Couple that with consumers buying sooner than later, and it’s time to talk.

And the Jolly
While our lives have been reshaped by this pandemic, the 2021 holiday buying season offers opportunities for all of our businesses. For two decades, customers have depended on Prime Group to adjust to marketplace conditions and help them succeed in getting much needed products from point A to B and then. Through this year’s challenges, we’ve done that by adapting and responding to marketplace conditions that simply weren’t there in the same way in the past. We are working more closely with our customers than ever to help them avoid any pitfalls along the way – and to stay happy!

Yes, all the signs point to a bumpy ride as global industries head into 2022 and beyond. But let’s seize the opportunity to make this year’s holiday retail buying season a success. We’re here and ready to do our part for you.

Stay safe!

– Roger Paredes, CEO

Lumber Industry is Riding Seesaw of Supply Chain Instability

“Unprecedented” is the best way to describe the volatility in today’s global supply chain. Our business clients and wholesalers who ship lumber, cleaning supplies, fresh produce, computer chips, vaccines, and a host of other goods face the challenges of rising product and transport pricing, product shortages, port congestion, and limited transportation capacity. Those “hits” to the speed and reliability along all supply chains just seem to keep on coming.

Most notably, the “big picture” changes daily.

One good example is the lumber industry. “As an integral part of the lumber industry’s supply chain, we’re monitoring these developments closely and doing whatever we can to minimize the impact and make logistical adjustments to assist our lumber supplier and wholesaler clients,” emphasizes Omar Zambrano, COO, Prime Group, who oversees operations for the company’s Miami-based Prime Logistics division.

Robust Industry Demand

Fortunately, the lumber industry is seeing some positive housing indicators from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.  “Those agencies report robust new residential construction based on three factors – authorized building permits, housing starts, and housing completions,” Zambrano notes.

Lumber demand has outpaced supply over the past year as consumers desire bigger homes, many of whom new construction, and adults working at home have dived into DIY (do it yourself) projects. Americans in droves spent their stimulus checks on such projects, while some city dwellers opted for new second homes in the countryside.

But that soaring demand for lumber and plywood too has been coupled with other factors causing the “perfect storm.” Those include pandemic-era production cuts, rising oil prices, reduced worker output, limited truck availability (due to driver shortages, and government shutdown orders at domestic and foreign lumber mills.

Crazily Rising Rates

Shortages of freight shipping containers and pallets (also with higher costs for both), plus limited capacity in general for shipping also have impacted the supply chain and caused crazily rising transport costs for air, ocean, and land shipping. Supply Chain Dive, a top logistics-industry publication, reported that record-breaking lumber prices and supply restrictions have impacted everything from home building to book publishing.

Previously, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported that, the average price of a newly constructed single-family home has increased by about $36,000 since April 2020. Right now, 3,000 U.S. sawmills are again operating at full capacity, so the cost of lumber, which had soared from $350 to $1,600 or even more “per thousand board feet” during 2020 and into the first half of 2021 has dropped in recent months. Yet, many believe the roller coaster of lumber price changes could continue.

As a veteran logistics expert, “Prime Group knows all too well that marketplace pressures and pricing volatility remain for all types of shipping – whether it’s air, ocean or land – and across many industries,” says Zambrano. In addition to pricing and delivery issues that customers are experiencing, his logistics team is dealing with the ripple effect of ongoing port congestion.

No Time to Stock Up

One telltale sign of the disruptions is that importers accustomed to having several months’ worth of inventory stocked in warehouses are now writing up orders to ship those goods out immediately to the retail-store shelves as soon as they’re removed from shipping containers. “It’s mindboggling in many ways,” he reports.

Zambrano points to struggles across the board that Prime Logistics’ customers are realizing daily. In addition to lumber supply-chain customers and wholesalers, those clients include manufacturers and distributors of biotech supplies, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals; aerospace and automotive parts; perishables and temperature-sensitive cargos; project cargos; and hazardous materials, among others.

Go-To Spots Get Spotty

In one example, after many Chinese factories shut downs given the pandemic, and the annual Chinese New Year holiday shutdowns last year (and now again on the horizon), some of Prime Logistics’ business clients and wholesalers began to view alternative manufacturing markets such as Vietnam as the “go-to spot” to help fill supply voids. But just as clients got comfortable with the new supply chain arrangements, Vietnam then issued stay-at-home orders.

So, on a daily basis, Prime Group’s logistics experts are helping customers “pass, punt, and kick” to keep their product moving – and advising them to order early and often, if they can afford it.

“Fortunately, Prime Logistics supports its customer in shipping commodities via land, air, and ocean to and from virtually any destination,” stresses Zambrano, “and this year, those relationships are proving invaluable as logistical plans often must be changed quickly.”

Based in Miami, the company supports customers from its headquarters offices in Doral as well as Los Angeles and New York in the U.S.; Quito, Ecuador; Bogota, Colombia; and Amsterdam, the Netherlands – and via hundreds of representatives worldwide.

Communications is Key

That business “scope” is important as experts say that in some industries, adequate goods and shipping capacity won’t be “right-sized” until 2023 or beyond. One fact is clear, says Zambrano: “The supply chain challenges this year are unprecedented and may continue into next year too.”

He believes regular communication with suppliers and regular communications to clients is absolutely critical for business operational success on all sides: “Let’s champion flexibility and forward planning as we work closely together to find solutions for a fast-evolving business marketplace – one that seems to change by he hour.”

About Prime Logistics 

One of the four divisions of Prime Group, an international logistics services conglomerate founded in Ecuador in 2001, Prime Logistics serves to streamline, optimize, and expedite freight to and from the U.S. for a wide range of major industries.

With offices in Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Bogota, Quito, and Amsterdam, Prime Logistics capitalizes on its long-time relationships with the major air carriers and ocean lines, to offer competitive rates in securing ample space to destinations all around the world.

For information, call 305-592-2044 or visit www.primelogisticsgroup.com.