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Amazon Begins Handling Cargo From China

Last year, Amazon reportedly began coordinating shipments of ocean freight as it continues to build up its global shipping operations.

Amazon late last year reportedly began coordinating shipments of ocean freight as it continues to build up its global shipping operations. 
 
Shipping documents reviewed by Ocean Audit showed that Amazon Logistics helped ship at least 150 cargo containers from China since October, according to The Wall Street Journal. 
 
The e-commerce giant's Chinese affiliate registered as an ocean freight carrier in both the U.S. and China last year. Although the company does not own ships, Amazon is allowed to transport goods from its third-party sellers in China across the Pacific. 
 
Amazon's existing logistics network would then move that cargo from U.S. ports to the company's warehouses. 
 
The Journal also reported that Amazon is now posting rates for sorting, labeling and trucking — services generally offered by large parcel carriers rather than online retailers. 
 
Industry experts long predicted that Amazon would build up its shipping capabilities. In addition to gaining more control over its supply chain and curbing rising shipping costs, analysts said that the company could generate revenue by offering logistics services to third-parties — which would place Amazon in competition with its current parcel partners. 

Shortly after the company's ocean freight ambitions surfaced, reports detailed plans for a massive shipping network between suppliers in Asia and customers in the U.S. Last spring, the Journal reported the Amazon was in talks with software companies about coordinating its logistics network. 
 
“This is just another cog in the supply chain that they’re putting under their control, as well as creating new revenue streams," John Haber, who heads supply chain consulting firm Spend Management Experts, told the paper this week.

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