Competition guarantees that pricing is keen

KEVIN MAYHEW CONTRARY TO popular belief, doing business with the Far East is not as complicated as most people believe. Terms of trading are easily understood and adhered to by trading partners, according to director of Truro Shipping & Forwarding, Diann Pillay. Truro is a privately-owned customs clearing and international freight forwarding company that has operated in South Africa for the past 15 years. “If the Far East supplier is shipping goods for the first time there might be glitches, but most major suppliers can communicate in English and have a basic knowledge of trading. “The problem area is sometimes the packing of loose cargo (LCL),” she says. But the market has endless possibilities, in her view. “The Far East manufacturers are willing to adapt products to better suit the markets they enter. They are also constantly producing in a highly competitive market which means that buyers are guaranteed that pricing is always very keen,” adds Pillay. Referring to Truro itself, she says the company undertakes major project management deals involving many facets of the transport industry. Its service extends to providing complete logistics solutions and warehousing of cargo worldwide.