Ray Smuts
IAIN MCINTOSH, newly-appointed marketing manager of P&O Nedlloyd, cannot begin to speculate on the scope of trade once China opens up to the West but chuckles at the rather apt illustration that if all its inhabitants - more than one billion of them - were to buy just one woollen sock apiece, the world would be depleted of stock.
All eyes are on China, expected to sign the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement liberalising trade with the West before the year is out, and McIntosh is not alone in accepting that the opportunity for trade between South Africa and a country with such a vast population is simply awe-inspiring.
"China must hold huge potential for South Africa's exporters and while P&O Nedlloyd is already doing business there its presence will be enhanced once the WTO agreement is ratified."
McIntosh, 41, who comes from a shipping family going back to his great-grandfather, the Aberdeen harbour pilot, has been with P&O Nedlloyd since leaving school in Croydon 23 years ago. He was previously P&O Nedlloyd's manager for SAECS trade in London for four years. He now has responsibility for marketing and product management of the lineÕs trade in and out of South Africa while also interacting closely with its trade management centres in London and Hong Kong.
"Our quality did fall slightly late last year with the process of implementing our export centralisation and taking full control of our operations, and my aim as it is with my colleagues, is for us to return once again to become the quality operator in South Africa that our clients expect."
McIntosh believes quality service should be paramount to P&O Nedlloyd and while lauding the Safari service from which the line recently exited, feels it was in the best interest of an 'evolving' company.
"The withdrawal was logical as we already had a service in existence that will be faster than Safari."
A prime function will be to hone the newly-named Safesa and Salsa services between South Africa and the East and South Africa and South America. The same ten vessels will be involved in the weekly services, the first of which will arrive in Port Elizabeth on April 27 before sailing for Santos in Brazil where P&O Nedlloyd opened its own office last week.
"The Safesa / Salsa service offers fast transit time complemented by its Waccon (Asia - SA - West Africa service) with more reefer capacity to the Far East than was previously the case with Safari," says McIntosh.
Iain Mclntosh... China must hold huge potential for South Africa's exporters
