African logistics footprint adds muscle to Chinese market penetration

THE HOT spot in Far East trade for Access Freight
International is the massive market in China, according
to Dean Lailvaux, national sales manager.
“The decision to invest in business trips to China has
proved to be the right one for Access as it has made a
significant difference to our business,” he told FTW.
But, he added, this is not a market that can be
casually entered – it requires careful study before any
venture is undertaken.
“We realised that Access needed to take the time to
understand the market, the traffic moving on the trade,
the service providers, the players – and, indeed, we
needed to understand ‘how to do business in China’.
“Culture still plays an important role when doing
business there, and observing and respecting the
Chinese culture has been a significant contributor to
our success in this market.”
Lailvaux also pointed to the company’s success and
experience in providing logistics services into and out of
sub-Saharan Africa having given it “a fantastic foot-up”
into the Sino-Africa-Sino trade.
“China has divided the supply of products into
regions,” he said, “and it is incredible to have witnessed
their discipline in doing so.”
The divide is a north/central/south split, Lailvaux
added.
“Very generally, the northern regions specialise
in heavy industry – the likes of steel, machinery and
equipment – as well as the automotive industry and
some mineral processing, both natural and artificial.
“Southern China, meantime, produces a lot of
finished goods, limited only by the imagination. In a
lengthy list, this includes electronics, sanitary ware,
furniture, air-conditioners and clothing.
“The central regions produce the textiles and fabrics,
chemicals, hardware and pretty much anything else not
handled in the north/south divide.”
According to Lailvaux, this diversity and volume of
products and cargo moving in-and-out of China allowed
Access to select products that supported its strategy,
and were best serviced by its infrastructure.
“On the inbound side we are moving and handling
a significant amount of building material, fully built-up
(FBU) vehicle units, mining equipment as well as coking
coal,” he said. “On the outbound side we are exporting
large volumes of processed minerals as well as raw
material mainly into northern China.
“The strategic location of our logistics facilities
in both Johannesburg and Durban, with supporting
container parks, makes the packing, unpacking and
cross-docking of these cargoes seamless.”
Access is continuing to invest time and resources
in developing the Sino-Africa-Sino trade, Lailvaux
added, with the development of a “China Desk” in the
company ensuring a sustained focus on growing and
supporting its current share of this market.