2013 Asia Pacific Cargo Theft Report

Introduc�onSummary

Introduc�onTAPA records cargo the� ac�vity around the globe, categorizing stolen loads under 27 different product types and tracking by date, loca�on, modus operandi (M.O.) and specific product. This report summarizes the Asia the� data collected in 2013 and analyzes trends derived from database content, law enforcement informa�on and industry personnel.

SummaryKey trends seen in 2013 included: An overall increase in average value lost per incident of 65% from 2012. An increase in repor�ng in the region as shown by Vietnam and Bangladesh. An increase in cargo truck hijackings compared to other methods. An increase in incidents involving Clothing/Shoes and Metal product types.

TAPA recorded 215 cargo the� incidents throughout Asia in 2013, a slight drop from the 2012 record high of 228. The 2012 total, however, included a sizable number of incidents from Vietnam as reported in local media, and no similar report has appeared on cargo the� in the country for 2013.

With an average of 17.9 cargo the�s per month, the Asia supply chain experienced substan�al incidents, including full truckload/container the�s, facility burglaries and driver the�s, at a rate higher than one every other day.

Of the 215 cargo the�s with recorded incident types, 106 (49%) were hijackings, while 44 (20%) were the�s of loads from trailers. Both the vehicle and load were stolen in 30 reported incidents, and there were 23 reported incidents of facility burglary. The�s involving violence or the threat of violence remained a significant sta�s�cal propor�on of cargo the�s in Asia, accoun�ng for 51% of the total incidents recorded for the year.

CARGO THEFTBY QUARTER

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2013 ASIA PACIFIC CARGO THEFT REPORT

Major TrendsBy Country/Region

Major Trends

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Inconsistencies in incident recording in Asia since 2010 limit the identification of cargo theft trends. Noteworthy in 2013, however, was an apparent increase in incidents in Bangladesh, as the Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce reported a jump from 60 incidents per month in 2012 to more than 100 per month last year.The product type with the highest number of reported incidents for the year was Fashion –Clothing/Footwear with 26% of the total. This was followed by Metals at 19% of the total and Food/Beverages at 12%.

Hijackings spiked in 2013, increasing to 106 incidents for the year, up from 51 in 2012.

The months of January, March, April, May and June saw slight increases compared with 2012, making February the only month in the first half of 2013 that did not see an increase in reported incidents.

Despite the decrease in cargo theft rates for 2013, the average loss value per incident rose substantially, jumping by 88% for the year. Contributing to the increase were several extreme high-value thefts of $1 million or more and an increase in the average value of thefts targeting the Clothing/Footwear and HDD/Storage product types.

One extreme high-value theft — more than $2.4 million in Clothing/Footwear — occurred in October in Shaanxi, China, after the driver of one truck discovered the value of the cargo in another truck. In an apparent impulsive act, the driver hotwired the truck and drove it off the logistics yard in hopes of selling the load. The police found the driver attempting to sell the products on the side of the road after failing to find a wholesale buyer.

The top countries for cargo theft in 2013 — Bangladesh, India, China and the Philippines — accounted for 95% of all recorded incidents in Asia. Bangladesh, which recorded 95 cargo thefts in 2013, claimed 44% of Asia's cargo theft incidents. Bangladesh was the only country that experienced a significant increase in reported thefts in 2013, going from six to 95 verified incidents.

At the same time, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, India and Malaysia saw incidents drop from 2012. Vietnam and Hong Kong experienced the largest decline, with Vietnam sliding from 126 thefts to just one and Hong Kong dropping from 44 to eight. These changes, however, are largely the result of a reduction in incident reporting in the region and should not be considered a sign of decreased crime, as the surge in reported incidents in Bangladesh demonstrates.

By Country/Region

*Due to fluctuations in the rate of incident reporting in the Asia Pacific region, data for the region suffers a degree of fragmentation. Trends in this report are based on available data and may not perfectly illustrate overall cargo theft in the region.

2013 ASIA PACIFIC CARGO THEFT REPORT

Major TrendsBy Value

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CARGO THEFT BY COUNTRY NUMBER OF INCIDENTS VS. AVERAGE VALUE

The average loss value per incident has fluctuated yearly since 2007, spiking in 2010 at $212,000 per cargo theft, dropping in 2011 to $139,000 and then climbing steeply through 2012 and 2013. As stated, inconsistencies in theft reporting in Asia contribute to variations in the number of incidents reported and in average loss values.

The average value per incident in 2013 was $620,954, up 65% from the average 2012 value of $377,307. The HDD/Storage, Commodities, Cash/Bullion, Tobacco, Miscellaneous, Notebook/Netbook, Desktop, and Clothing/Footwear product types saw the largest increases in the average value per theft. Of these product types, Commodities had one of the most drastic rises, from $122,130 in 2012 to $1.1 million in 2013 due to a series of high-value incidents over the last year.

While many product types experienced increases in their average value per theft, Pharmaceuticals, Jewelry/ Watches, Metal, Sport Goods, Peripheral, Consumer Electronics, CPU/Components, Display, Toiletries, Mobile Phones, Food/Beverage, and Vehicle/Equipment saw a drop in average value per theft. Metal in particular fell from $982,622 in 2013 to $754,352 in 2013, largely caused by an increase in reporting of lower-value incidents in Bangladesh and India.

By Value

2013 ASIA PACIFIC CARGO THEFT REPORT

Major TrendsBy Date

By Date

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May and June with 33 thefts each, January with 28 incidents and March with 25 recorded the highest number of thefts in 2013. Though insufficient data precludes trend identification by month, October, November and December experienced drops in cargo crime in both 2012 and 2013. This pattern, however, could also be explained by a reduction in theft reporting as the years came to a close.

As shown in the chart below, cargo theft reporting rates on average have been increasing since 2011, with the number of reported incidents declining only in April and June of 2012 before dropping off in October 2012.

CARGO THEFT BY MONTH

CARGO THEFT 2012 - 2013

2013 ASIA PACIFIC CARGO THEFT REPORT

Major TrendsBy Date

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CARGO THEFT BY DAY OF THE WEEK

Reported cargo thefts decreased by 67% from the first half of the year to the second, going from an average of nearly 13 incidents per month from January through June to an average of almost eight per month from July through December. This sharp drop, however, could also be attributed to a reduction in reporting on incidents occurring after June.

While Monday was the clear day for thefts (or discovery of thefts) in Asia in 2012, the cargo thefts that included an incident date in 2013 followed a unique pattern of increasing on Monday and Tuesday, dipping on Wednesday, spiking again on Thursday and then declining more each day through Sunday.

Hijackings saw a similar pattern, with the highest number reported on Tuesday with 13 incidents and Wednesday with 12 incidents. The lowest number of hijackings occurred on Sunday and Monday, with six and five incidents respectively. There is insufficient accurate data to provide a theory as to why thieves appear more active on certain days of the week.

2013 ASIA PACIFIC CARGO THEFT REPORT

Major TrendsBy Product Type

By Product Type

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Clothing/Footwear was the most sought�after product type in 2013,

accounting for 70 thefts, or 36% of the 194 recorded incidents with known product types. The Metals product type was second at 20% of the total, while the type of product stolen was not given in 13% of all reported thefts.

Seven product types experienced no recorded incidents in 2013. Of these, the Display, Pharmaceuticals and Toiletries categories dropped to zero from five, four and three thefts respectively the year before. Other product types that reported no incidents in 2013 were Commodities, Peripheral, Sport Goods and Various IT.

Recorded thefts target ing the Clothing / Footwear product type increased from 14 in 2012 to 70 in 2013, a 500% jump. Sixty-eight of the 70 recorded thefts in this sector occurred in Bangladesh, while two took place in China, demonstrating the impact of incident reporting on regional data.

THEFT PERCENTAGES BY PRODUCT TYPE

2013 ASIA PACIFIC CARGO THEFT REPORT

Major TrendsBy Date

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Fashion - Clothing/Footwear

Due largely to the sharp increase in reported thefts of Clothing/Footwear in Bangladesh last year, recorded thefts targeting this product type increased significantly, from 26 in 2012 to 70. Thus, this sector's share of total incidents jumped from 6% in 2012 to 33%. At the same time, the average loss per incident in the Clothing/Footwear sector dropped by 30% from $655,360 per incident in 2012 to $463,797 in 2013. The most targeted items in this sector were clothes meant for export outside the country.

Metal

Similar to Clothing/Footwear, the Metal product type saw a jump in reported incidents thanks to information from Bangladesh. With the addition of this data, Metal thefts increased from 17 incidents in 2012 to 38 in 2013. Twenty-four of these thefts were recorded in Bangladesh, eight in India, two in China and one in the Philippines. The increase makes the Metal product type the second most targeted category in 2013.

Food/Beverage

The Food/Beverage product type saw a drop in reported incidents in 2013, going from 43 incidents in 2012 to 26 last year. Despites this

decrease, Food/Beverage was the third most targeted product type, consisting of 12% of overall reported cargo thefts in 2013.

India, with 15 thefts targeting this sector, recorded the highest number of Food/Beverage incidents for the year. The Philippines reported seven incidents in this sector, while Thailand reported only two thefts, and China and Australia each reported one incident. Among the items most targeted were fresh produce, rice, energy drinks and liquors.

Food/Beverage thefts stayed below three incidents per month except in May and August, which each saw four thefts in this sector.

2013 ASIA PACIFIC CARGO THEFT REPORT

Major TrendsBy TƘe� Type and Loca�on

By The� Type and Loca�on

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In 2013 cargo thieves in Asia most often targeted trucks en route to their destinations, as 49% of all incidents were hijackings. Facility burglaries and thefts of vehicles with load — either through deception or collusion — also proved popular among thieves, as each claimed 12% of all reported incidents.

The number of incidents in which thieves used violence or the threat of violence increased slightly in Asia last year, rising from 57 cases in 2012 to 62, making it 51% of all incidents with a stated method. Despite a drop in reported incidents from 85 in 2012 to 31 in 2013, the intrusion method was employed in 25% of all thefts in 2013.

In 2013, 52% of all cargo thefts with a reported location occurred while the truck was en route to its destination, while 12% occurred in unsecured areas such as truck stops, unsecure parking lots and even by the side of the road. Comparatively, the percentage of thefts from secured lots decreased from 48% of known locations in 2012 to 36% of known locations in 2013.

*There is no general consensus within the industry on the definition of “secured lot,” and this designation is assigned when a theft report indicates that the location was a secured parking area or cargo storage facility.

BY THEFT TYPE AND LOCATION

2013 ASIA PACIFIC CARGO THEFT REPORT

2013 Asia Pacific Cargo Theft Report

Every reported incident adds to the accuracy of our data; this makes our reports more detailed and improves the ability of members to proactively combat cargo crime.

Please report your incidents to incidents@tapa-apac.org. All information is treated in Strict Confidence.

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For further information on the IIS, please contact the IIS working committee through the TAPA Asia website.