Competitive rates lure shippers from air to sea

KEVIN MAYHEW THERE IS a shift away from airfreight to seafreight in certain sectors, probably due to greater cargo space availability by sea, according to Gauteng regional director of Safcor Panalpina, Maria du Preez. “The growth in sea freight is encouraging and this is probably at the expense of airfreight for items that are suited to both. At the end of the day the market will dictate people’s options,” she told FTW. New sea freight services are being introduced and existing ones expanded, making it competitive as tariffs are also falling to lure importers and exporters to use the new ocean freight space and services. Du Preez believes that manufacturers focusing on core business and outsourcing is also a trend that is keeping the freight sector buoyant, particularly if they are diversified and can provide a spread of services. “Just in time delivery is also a factor as importers and exporters seek to use supply chain specialists to reduce costs, downtime and their own warehousing needs,” she said. Safcor Panalpina is establishing new warehousing facilities at the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) site at Johannesburg International Airport.