Accounting for 45%
of SAA Cargo’s volumes
THE AIRFREIGHT industry in general, and SAA Cargo in particular, are reaping the rewards of the country’s automotive industry success.
Automotive components account for some 45% of the total goods transported by the airline, which sees further strong growth following the recent huge investment by General Motors.
“SAA Cargo is well placed to provide the required capacity for exporting the automotive components by air,” says vice president for cargo, Patrick Dlamini. “We are working very closely with the freight forwarders in strengthening the automotive components export market. We cannot afford to waste time. We have to be running with our business or else our competitors will seize this opportunity,” he told FTW.
One of the main export lines is leather seat covers flown via London and Frankfurt. These are used in the interior of top brand cars, including Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Ford and Daimler Chrysler.
Another high volume commodity locally manufactured for the export market is catalytic converters for Volkwagen, Ford, Delta Corporation, Daimler Chrysler and Volvo. And the manufacture of catalytic converters has a knock-on effect, creating demand for components used in the converter like ceramics, metal casings and pipes. “We look forward to further growth in this industry, especially with the Coega development coming on stream.”
In terms of imports SAA Cargo is involved in the movement of automotive parts from America and Brazil, Japan and Europe. “We import a lot of spare parts for the production of older and new models. In the Asia Pacific SAA Cargo’s market share amounts to 18%, while good growth has also been experienced in imports from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, India and Australia.”
And partnership is what it’s all about, in Dlamini’s view. “We believe that we can facilitate growth in the motor industry which has a significant impact on the South African economy.”
