France Freight Forwarding Market Overview, 2029

The freight forwarding market in France forms an important part of its logistics industry, while logistics plays an important role in the French economy due to it being centrally located in Europe and involving strong trade relationships worldwide. Specific legislation regulates goods transport by road, rail, air, and sea in France. The objectives are essentially safety and compliance with the environment. By way of example, road transport is governed by the Code de la route the Highway Code and special legislation for hazardous material transportation. In 2022, Renault Trucks announced its intention to market over 16-ton electric trucks in France at a cost equal to diesel vehicles targeting the delivery of freight urban freights. The trucks would begin operation in Paris by 2023. On another front, Kuehne+Nagel France reinforced its fleet in March 2023 with the addition of over 23 electric vehicles for its domestic groupage traffic. With Kuehne+Nagel France, there was great coverage due to its extensive network with 56 locations across the country.In January 2024, Kuehne + Nagel announced Book & Claim in setting solution for electric vehicles to further enhance its decarbonization solutions. Book & Claim in setting solutions for road freight have been one of the strategic priorities under development by Kuehne + Nagel. Customers that have their goods moved by Kuehne + Nagel's road transport can now be credited with the carbon reductions of the electric trucks in cases where moving those goods on an e-truck cannot technically occur. In October 2023, Kuehne+Nagel establishes three new charter connections between the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Starting with its own freighter, the B747-8 "Inspire", from October 23rd, 2023, it will add another two more weekly routings: Atlanta and Chicago-Amsterdam, and onwards to Taipei. This flight caters to important industries like healthcare, perishables, and semiconductors.

According to the research report "France Freight Forwarding Market Overview, 2029," published by Bonafide Research, the France freight forwarding market is anticipated to grow at more than 3 % CAGR from 2024 to 2029. Situated in the very western part of Europe, France is an influential center of world trade and logistics. Its geographic location offers a well-developed transportation system, including a dense network of highways, high-speed rail links, and international airports, along with major seaports, acting like a "gateway" in container shipping for instance, Le Havre, Marseille, and Dunkirk connecting European, Asian, African, and American commerce. France is an important player in international trade agreements and has trade relations with countries across the globe. Being a state of the European Union allows it to benefit from preferential Treaties on trade with other fellow states of the Union and exposes it to a single market of more than 450 million consumers. France is one of the countries whose freight forwarders have been transformed by technological innovation. Some of the innovations include real-time location systems, route predictive analytics, automated warehousing solutions, and digital documentation management systems that help to improve operational efficiency, transparency, and reliability. It will be helping freight forwarders reduce transit time and costs, better manage their inventory, increase visibility into supply chain processes, and ensure quality. In France, there has been significant development in the freight forwarding segment pertaining to e-commerce growth. As e-commerce online retail platforms increase, so do parcel shipments and small package deliveries from the catalog of sellers within the market. These companies need efficient logisticians to help them manage the complexities of last-mile delivery, handle diversified product categories, and quick turnaround time. In view of this, specialist services were developed by these freight forwarders in the form of fulfillment houses, cross-border shipping solutions, and integrated IT platforms that allow for seamless order processing and tracking in e-commerce logistics.

The industrial and manufacturing segment generally leads the industry due to the stable demand for logistics and supply chain solutions. In this industry, there is transportation of raw materials, components, finished goods, and so on, across borders, which requires reliable and efficient freight forwarding services. What makes this sector a leader, therefore, are large-scale operations with their extensive global supply chains and continuous needs for just-in-time delivery in support of production schedules. For such segment clientele, freight forwarders must be highly competent in management of complex logistics, on-time delivery, and cost optimisation related to transportation through sea, air, and road freight. Freight forwarding services to the healthcare segment are increasingly in high demand. Growing global trade in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and health care equipment is a key driver for this segment. That's to say that healthcare freight forwarders face some of the severest regulatory requirements, having to retain the integrity of their products above all, temperature-sensitive goods, while ensuring timely delivery to a number of hospitals, clinics, and distribution centers. Some of the factors fuelling this segment include globalized pharmaceutical manufacturing, the blooming of biotechnology, and fast-tracked delivery of medical supplies. Coupled with the booming e-commerce sector, efficient freight forwarding is called for to handle the flow of goods from manufacturers or distributors to the consumer. Automotive segment caters to transporting automotive parts and vehicles, focusing on just-in-time delivery and global supply chain management. Goods for consumption vary in a broad spectrum from apparel to electronics, this would, therefore, require reliable logistics to get them to the consumers on time and account for seasonal fluctuations. Others include categories of aerospace, energy, and technology. All these segments require specific logistics against each industry's demand.

Transportation and warehousing are the biggest sectors in the freight forwarding market in France, as they form an integral part of logistics. Transportation refers to the movement of goods by air, at sea, on road, and by rail, among others, depending on the different needs of clients concerning speed, cost, and reliability. Warehousing refers to storing goods and managing them to ensure inventory control, order fulfillment, and distribution efficiency. This segment therefore dominates, as seamless logistics operations are critical in supporting supply chains of industries such as manufacturing, retail, and automotive. There are a number of associated services, including customs clearance, consolidation, packaging, labelling, and inventory management. They are of great use in making supply chains more efficient, lowering costs, and providing better quality of service. Most particularly, the rapid growth of e-commerce has driven demand for value-added services like order fulfillment and reverse logistics high enough to handle the complexities of ever-smaller shipments and find an effective way of returns management. Moreover, when companies require more integrated logistical solutions, value-added service providers play an important role in offering customized solutions that help in optimizing supply chain performance and customer satisfaction. The segment dealing with packaging focuses on ensuring the goods are well-packaged to ensure safe and secure transit. It involves compliance with international packaging standards, protection from damage, efficient usage of space to reduce the cost of shipment, and all other value-added services on product packaging. Thus, packaging services become highly important in maintaining product integrity during transit and enhancing brand perception through its quality presentation. It includes documentation services, such as preparation and processing of legal and customs documents for any cargo or shipment being transported across borders. This would mean export-import documentation, compliance with trade regulations, and accuracy to avoid delays or penalties at the borders.

Ocean freight forwarding holds precedence in the French market, taking into consideration its enormous maritime connectivity to the rest of the world, France has some very famous commercial ports Le Havre, Marseille, and Dunkirk on its Locator. These constitute a significant part of international trade activities, providing the means and capabilities to handle and ship goods efficiently and competitively. In addition, bulk volumes moved over long distances enjoy economies of scale, making the business quite cost-effective for companies involved in international trade. The leadership comes as a result of the infrastructure existing and logistical networks that support ocean freight to take the lead in the freight-forwarding sector in France. Air freight forwarding is fast gaining momentum in France because of the high demand for faster transit times and transportation of highly valued or time-critical goods. The other reason for its growth is improvement in technology and logistics, which gives efficiency and reliability to air cargo operations. Its geographic location and some of the major, very well-linked airports including Charles de Gaulle in Paris and Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport make up perfect conditions regarding air freights and continue to attract business looking to accelerate the supply chain. Online retailers seeking speedier delivery solutions to satisfy consumer demand also fuel air freight growth through rapidly growing e-commerce. Being a core section of France's freight industry, road freight forwarding is highly agile and capable, thus offering door-to-door solutions across Europe. With an excellent network of roads and transportation facilities in general, it offers good, cost-effective routes for the transportation of all cargo of any size or commodity. Rail freight forwarders are not as prominent as the other modes, but they serve an important function moving bulk goods over longer distances by capitalizing on France's well-developed rail network and gaining access to key connections for bordering nations.



Considered in this report
• Historic year: 2018
• Base year: 2023
• Estimated year: 2024
• Forecast year: 2029

Aspects covered in this report
• Freight Forwarding market Outlook with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By End-User
• Industrial & Manufacturing
• Retail and E-commerce
• Automotive
• Consumer Goods
• Healthcare
• Others

By Service Type
• Transportation and Warehousing
• Packaging
• Documentation
• Value-added Services

By Transport Mode
• Ocean Freight forwarding
• Air Freight forwarding
• Road Freight forwarding
• Rail Freight forwarding

By Customer Type
• B2B
• B2C

The approach of the report:
This report consists of a combined approach of primary and secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and list the companies that are present in it. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, annual reports of companies, and government-generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources, primary research was conducted by conducting telephone interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducting trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this; we have started making primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting them in regional aspects, tier aspects, age group, and gender. Once we have primary data with us, we can start verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations, and organizations related to the Freight Forwarding industry, government bodies, and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing and presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.