Airfreight division set for growth

The airfreight division of ICM Clearing and Forwarding is set to double revenue figures by the end of this year, says airfreight division manager Mark Anthony. Officially launched in January this year, the division has already made major inroads, Anthony told FTW. And as volumes have continued to build, it has secured highly competitive preferential rates across the board. The division was launched in arguably one of the most challenging periods for the airfreight industry – having just emerged from a crippling recession, the volcanic ash cloud in Europe added to the challenges. In South Africa, the advent of the Fifa World Cup put a further squeeze on capacity, while the recent Transnet strike impacted seafreight capacity, resulting in increased airfreight volumes. “But these were challenges facing the entire industry, and this certainly did not hold back our progress,” said Anthony. Among the more lucrative contracts undertaken this year were the movement of precious metals, chemicals, machinery and the like. “These will continue to be areas of focus into the future, giving us the edge in providing a logistic solution for any commodity due to our international structure in India, the Far East, Europe and the Americas,” he said. The South African offices of the company are based in Durban and Johannesburg. Cape Town is on the planning boards for later this year.