The issue dominated the 90th HUBA Entrepreneurs' Coffee forum, held in Ho Chi Minh City on July 4 under the theme Rising logistics costs: What should businesses do?
Phan Minh Thong, chairman of Phuc Sinh Corporation, said his company continued to record strong revenue growth but was facing unprecedented cost pressures.
Phan Minh Thong, chairman of Phuc Sinh JSC, second from left, said there were months when his company had to spend as much as VND 22 billion on logistics (Photo: Nam Binh).
Phuc Sinh generated revenue of around USD 350 million in 2025, while turnover in the first half of 2026 rose by more than 25 per cent. However, Thong said the increase did not fully reflect the company's business performance because soaring logistics costs had significantly reduced profit margins.
Previously, the company spent around VND 7 to 8 billion (approximately USD 268,000 to USD 306,000) each month on ocean freight. In June alone, that figure surged to VND 17 billion (approximately USD 650,000). Including additional surcharges, total logistics expenses reached about VND 22 billion (approximately USD 841,000), accounting for more than half of the company's operating costs for the month.
Fresh fruit exporters are facing even greater challenges because of the short shelf life of their products and strict quality requirements.
Nguyen Dinh Tung, chairman of Vina T&T Group, said exported fruit must pass through numerous stages before reaching a vessel, including transport to processing facilities, sorting, packaging, quarantine inspection, irradiation treatment, customs clearance and port handling.
Container shipping rates have risen sharply in recent weeks. Freight costs have climbed from around USD 2,800 per container at the beginning of May to nearly USD 7,800, an increase of more than 200 per cent.
"For fresh fruit, even a delay of a few days can affect product quality or result in the loss of an entire shipment, so exporters have little choice but to absorb the higher freight costs," Tung said.
Le Van Danh, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, said logistics had been identified as one of the city's five key economic sectors.
Le Van Danh, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, speaks at the event (Photo: Nam Binh).
The city aims to reduce logistics costs to between 11 and 14 per cent of total costs in the coming years, below the current national average.
To achieve that goal, Ho Chi Minh City is investing heavily in multimodal transport infrastructure, including roads, inland waterways, railways, airports and seaports.
Major infrastructure projects, including ring roads, regional expressways and the Bau Bang-Cai Mep railway, are being accelerated. Once completed, the railway will directly connect industrial parks with the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex, significantly reducing freight transport costs.
The city is also upgrading its inland waterway network, expanding logistics centres, studying plans for a free trade zone and promoting digital transformation and greener logistics operations.
Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association, said infrastructure investment was the long term solution but would take time to deliver results.
In the short term, he argued that businesses could reduce costs through closer cooperation.
If exporters shared production plans and shipping schedules with logistics providers, transport companies would be better able to allocate capacity, improve container utilisation and potentially lower freight rates, he said.
Hoa also proposed establishing market based partnerships between exporters and logistics companies, backed by clear commitments on cargo volumes and responsibilities from both sides.
