A happy first half for shipping lines

It’s been a more prosperous year for shipping lines on the SA trades than most forecasts suggested at the end of the global recession. In the first six months of the year, imports were a bit better than expected, according to Iain McIntosh, marketing manager of Mitsui OSK Line (MOL). “The roll-over from last year lasted surprisingly well into this year,” he told FTW. “Restocking after the financial crisis had to take place, and the movement of goods into SA leading up to the World Cup helped to swell the volumes to and from SA. “The recovery was not massive, but more a sustainable sort of recovery.” And he expects the second half of the year to continue in an upward swing. “Our cross-trade through West Africa, for example,” he said, “is currently doing very well. “Exports from SA have also been reasonably good. Fruit, for example, started the season a bit sluggishly, but has picked up nicely now.” But McIntosh warns people not to get too optimistic about things continuing to gain steam. “The developed markets are still trying to sort things out, and some of them have revealed rather serious financial troubles. “Developing economies, meantime, have continued their export growth patterns. But they shouldn’t get too excited, as they could eventually run out of export destinations if things begin to tighten up again.” Ivan Naik, MD of Pacific International Line (PIL) in SA, described the trade growth in the first six months of the year as “steady”. “We can expect it to continue in this vein for the second half,” he told FTW, “as we have started to run into the pre- Christmas peak season.” A ship’s agent on the SA-Far East trade suggested that the miniboom in the period before the World Cup could be expected to continue. “There’s still a big demand for space on our vessels,” he said, “so we can expect a peak season upturn.” Rhett van Zyl, MD of CMA CGM Shipping Agency, also plumped for the “steady growth” description for trade during 2010. “We obviously had the brakes go on during the three-week Transnet strike,” he said. “And there’s still a backlog going on. “Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) seems to be doing its best to clear up the logjam, but a lot of people are just not clearing containers quickly enough. “However, it’s a frustration that the lines are trying to help them out with, but I don’t think it will affect the growth we’re looking for in the peak season too much.”