Buffalo records surge in project cargo business

ALAN PEAT THE IMPORT sector of the freight logistics industry is growing apace, according to Margrit Wolff, MD of Buffalo Freight. Looking at her own company’s records, she told FTW: “Things are just growing like crazy. And it’s no specific products, but general imports that are behind this growth.” Although the sources are also globally widespread, Wolff highlights growth in imports from Europe as “getting very big now”, with India also markedly on the up-and-up in imports to SA. Buffalo has also noted a recent surge in incoming project cargo. So much so that the company has had to form relationships with overseas experts who are specialist project logistics providers. “We have established a network with various agents in a number of countries,” said Wolff, “and we are currently contemplating possibly setting up our own specialist projects division.” Buffalo has three major projects in its books. One an incoming factory from Poland, and two others projects for the SA government. “Plant and machinery is also coming in for specific projects,” said Wolff, “and we have a major outgoing project – with big tonnages of satellite decoders being shipped into Israel, all by airfreight.” Buffalo Freight started eight years ago, and it now incorporates both air and sea freight for import and export cargoes and handles monthly seafreight groupage shipments of general merchandise from the UK, China, Hong Kong, and India. Its head office is based in Johannesburg with branch offices in Durban, Cape Town and Pretoria.