BMW spreads its logistics options

With car exports set to more than double this year to around 70 000 units, BMW SA has had to become imaginative in its logistics structure, according to Guy Kilfoil, GM communications. The first indication of this has been adding the Port of Maputo in Mozambique to its previously sole export port at Durban. This is to spread its logistics chain to more than one exit port, in an attempt to reduce risk – something with which Durban has now been labelled thanks to growing congestion, Kilfoil added. The company’s “dream”, he said, is to eventually be able to use a number of different ports in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) cluster. But this, according to Kilfoil, is not close to becoming a reality. The first is Maputo but the others remain no more than an imaginative hope. Not that they are a false hope. The port of Walvis Bay in Namibia, for example, would offer a big logistical advantage over Cape Town. “Importing parts for the Rosslyn plant through Namibia could offer a time saving of around four days,” he said. “And that is a significant saving on the capital tied up aboard a ship as long as it is at sea.” BMW’s exports are to the rest of the world, but there are certain major countries of destination in that general term. “Our biggest market by far is the US,” Kilfoil said, “the destination for every second car we export.” The others on his list are: Canada, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. And, with an intended 70 000 export units this year, the two ports of choice are both due for a considerable boost in their totals of car exports. Maputo car terminal, a subsidiary of the SA logistics company Grindrod, will be the export exit for around 14 000 BMWs a year, or roughly 20% of the export volumes. They are to be exported exclusively using the ro-ro (roll-on, roll-off) vessels of shipping line MOL, which have scheduled calls at the Port of Maputo. Their destination is the Far East, but mostly Japan. And Grindrod Freight Services (GFS), which handles BMW SA’s road freight logistics, will also operate as the private concessionaire at the Maputo car terminal. The Port of Durban, meantime, will also get a boost to the number of BMW vehicles exported, with a more-than 60% increase of almost 20 000 vehicles a year. This grand total of annual exports by BMW SA is all of only one model of car – the 3-series sedan. “We have only produced and exported the 3-series since 1995,” said Kilfoil. INSERT “Our biggest market by far is the US,” Kilfoil said, “the destination for every second car we export.” The others on his list are: Canada, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. And, with an intended 70 000 export units this year, the two ports of choice are both due for a considerable boost in their totals of car exports. Maputo car terminal, a subsidiary of the SA logistics company Grindrod, will be the export exit for around 14 000 BMWs a year, or roughly 20% of the export volumes. They are to be exported exclusively using the ro-ro (roll-on, roll-off) vessels of shipping line MOL, which have scheduled calls at the Port of Maputo. Their destination is the Far East, but mostly Japan. And Grindrod Freight Services (GFS), which handles BMW SA’s road freight logistics, will also operate as the private concessionaire at the Maputo car terminal. The Port of Durban, meantime, will also get a boost to the number of BMW vehicles exported, with a more-than 60% increase of almost 20 000 vehicles a year. This grand total of annual exports by BMW SA is all of only one model of car – the 3-series sedan. “We have only produced and exported the 3-series since 1995,” said Kilfoil. INSERT The company's dream is to eventually be able to use a number of different ports in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) cluster.