Airfreight market remains consistent - CRF

Competition for shrinking volumes has pushed airfreight rates to rock-bottom levels in a price war in which importers and exporters are the only winners. For the airfreight division of neutral groupage operator CFR Freight, it’s business as usual with its twice-weekly consolidation services out of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing into Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. The services are run in conjunction with its established partner, Shipco, which has 14 offices throughout the greater southern China region, providing a comprehensive footprint in China. “We also have a nice gateway set-up where we hub all southern China cargo into Hong Kong and move central Chinese cargo through Beijing or Shanghai, depending on the nature of the cargo,” says CFR Freight’s airfreight director Dave Graham. “For us the market has been stable. We’re not seeing the same huge growth out of China as we’re seeing out of Germany and the US, but volumes have been consistent.” China is the company’s third-biggest import origin behind Germany and the US. “China to South Africa is a very competitive lane and we’re always trying to match the best possible rates with transit times and service. And in recognition of the needs of South African importing agents, we offer a 30-day validity period on our rates from Hong Kong and Shanghai.” According to Graham, most of CFR’s airfreight customers are premium operators who enjoy access to rates and capacity that they are simply not able to negotiate based on their individual volumes. CAPTION Dave Graham … ‘China is thirdbiggest import origin.’