Amber Road acquires Shanghai-based EasyCargo

Global trade management technology provider Amber Road (formerly known as Management Dynamics) recently announced it has acquired Shanghai-based EasyCargo, a GTM solutions provider specializing in complex Chinese trade regulations.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Amber Road acquired EasyCargo to augment its existing global trade management capabilities for China,” a company spokesperson told LM. “EasyCargo provides extensive automation, called China Trade Management, or CTM, for customers to track and manage inventories in China. With CTM capabilities, companies can take advantage of China’s import regime called Processing Trade, lowering costs.  By acquiring EasyCargo, Amber Road offers Processing Trade capabilities to its existing and prospective customers who import into and export from China.”  

When asked what the biggest benefits of this deal are for shippers, the Amber Road spokesperson said that customers from both companies will now have more products to solve more problems. 

“Managing the end-to-end global trade process has always been the goal of Amber Road,” said the spokesperson. “With EasyCargo, customers will have an additional, important capability, CTM, provided seamlessly from one company.  Customers implementing globally will also benefit from a larger staff with expertise in many key markets, including China.”

Another big benefit for shippers cited by the spokesperson is lower costs as EasyCargo’s CTM solution provides extensive automation to support the Chinese government’s regulations for an import regime called Processing Trade, which affects companies that import materials and components into China and use those materials and components to manufacture finished goods for export to foreign markets.  When properly administered, Amber Road said Processing Trade transactions are exempt from import duties and value-added-taxes on export, lowering product costs by 25 percent or more.  Goods qualifying for the Processing Trade program now account for more than 30 percent of all Chinese imports.

Before its acquisition of EasyCargo, Amber Road provided import and export management capabilities for China, the spokesperson said, adding that these capabilities include import and export compliance checks, trade document determination and generation, landed cost calculations, and license determinatio. 

“Generally speaking, these capabilities are required to move goods into or out of China, the spokesperson said. “With the acquisition of EasyCargo, Amber Road has added the ability for customers to track and manage inventories once they enter China.  These inventory management capabilities enable companies to lower costs by taking advantage of duty and VAT suspension via China’s Processing Trade regime.”  

EasyCargo has approximately 40 employees, all of whom Amber Road plans to retain.  The founder EasyCargo, Kae-por Chang, will assume the position of Managing Director for Amber Road China.    

“Many of our existing North American and European-based customers do business with or in China, either as a source of supply, a manufacturing base, or as a market for exports,” said Jim Preuninger, CEO of Amber Road, in a statement.  “Our acquisition of EasyCargo will enable us to offer deep China-specific trade capabilities to our existing customer base as well as access the growing Chinese market.”