China-Zambia volumes on a roll

Zambia is a bustling
market for groupage
shipments from the East,”
according to Celtic Freight
MD Adrian Friend.
The signs of this, he
added, were a series of big
Chinese
trade
delegations
visiting
Zambia
in recent
times.
To
capture
a share
of this
busy trade
movement,
commercial
manager
Aileen
Ryan has just been in
Zambia’s capital city,
Lusaka, discussing with
the various clearing agents
and consignees the added
value of the service Celtic
is providing to the NVOCC
market and consolidator
agents from SA.
“We pack all our
consolidation cargo into
containers in our depot
in Johannesburg,” she
told FTW, “and we have
found that the benefit of
providing a
free container
service to the
industry has
continued to
grow.”
Ryan also
noted that
customs at all
the borders
preferred
cargo to be
containerised.
“Checking
the seal
gives them
confidence that the driver
is not carrying smuggled
goods within the legal
cargo.”
Celtic has also been
busy streamlining its
facilities in Lusaka so that
all the containers that are
delivered by the crossborder
f leet can be safely
and efficiently grounded
and unpacked. Local
distribution is handled
by Celtic’s f leet of small
trucks, which deliver direct
to the consignee if this
has been arranged or the
consignee notified that
the cargo is available for
collection.
And Ryan has found
that the Zambian customs
are amenable to assisting
importers. “If there is a
query regarding the cargo,”
she said, “they will allow
a ‘destination inspection’
to be conducted. This
prevents delaying the truck
and the balance of the
cargo en-route and avoids
an unsafe border post
inspection.
“As customs are aware
of our infrastructure to
ground the container, they
are quite happy to come
and inspect cargo at the
facility if there is the need.”
INSERT AND CAPTION
There has been a
series of big Chinese
trade delegations
visiting Zambia in
recent times.
– Adrian Friend