Choose your carrier carefully to avoid cost penalties

KEVIN MAYHEW THE HIGHLY competitive Far East – and in particular China – offers significant growth potential, but to benefit one has to understand the changing dynamics of the region. The Far East has provided the foundation for the development of NVOCC International Liner Agencies (ILA) for the past 12 years – and it will continue to contribute significantly to the business overall, according to managing director Rod Taylor. ILA offers direct weekly groupage services from Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. In South Africa it offers import and export services from offices in Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. “Competition is exceptionally tough from China,” says Taylor. “The market dynamics are ever changing and one should be exceptionally careful about selecting a groupage operator from China or the routing of freight and its subsequent cost can be horrendous.” China is developing so rapidly that the goal posts are moving all the time so it is essential to keep up with these developments, which ILA says it does with frequent visits to new and existing commercial parts of China at least twice a year to establish new demands and constantly rework existing ones. ILA is partnered in China by FCC Logistics, which mainly focuses on South Africa. FCC Logistics managing director, Edward Cheung, frequently visits South Africa to keep abreast of local conditions and requirements and also serves as an invaluable source of information about the Chinese market which is regarded by many as a very difficult one.