Consolidator sees strong European growth

Neutral consolidator CFR
Freight has seen strong
growth in Europe this year
through its seafreight network,
WorldWideAlliance (WWA),
as well as the introduction of
two new seafreight services.
“Our import service from
Istanbul, Turkey has now
reached high success levels
and the recent introduction
of a fortnightly export
service to Italy has also been
well received by the market,”
said managing director,
Martin Keck.
The company's seafreight
division offers 36 direct
seafreight import services and
12 direct export services.
Membership of the WWA –
made up of 19 global members
who are chosen for their
experience as the strongest
neutral less than container
load (LCL) providers in their
respective markets – gives the
consolidator comprehensive
coverage of Eastern and
Central Europe.
“WWA has opened brand
new offices in Bulgaria and
is also present in Russia, the
Baltics, Romania, Hungary,
the Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Ukraine and Slovenia
– giving our customers
improved access to these
markets,” said Keck.
Stephen Bishop, airfreight
general manager, pointed
out that the company’s
AirCargoGroup network gave
it similar extensive airfreight
coverage in Europe. “We are
running a sales drive to and
from Germany – starting
September and running until
the end of December – as it
is traditionally one of our
strongest European routes
and we want to grow it even
further.”
The airfreight division had
also started running a twiceweekly
consolidation service
to the United Kingdom,
with its mid-week volumes
growing steadily, commented
Bishop.
He added that the
company had increased its
export volumes to London’s
Heathrow Airport with
the help of “some great
options” with the carriers
serving that route.
“From the Netherlands,
we have re-focused on
direct consolidation
services out of
Amsterdam,” said Bishop,
noting that CFR was
previously feeding
these into its twiceweekly
German import
consolidation out of
Frankfurt, Germany.
“We have seen a
resurgence in our
Amsterdam import
requests and our
partnership with
AirCargoGroup allows for
the flexibility of finding the
best solution at a competitive
price,” he said.
Both Bishop and Keck
believe there is still scope for
trade growth to and from
Europe but that the South
African government needs
to create a better investment
and domestic economic
growth environment. “If
that is addressed,
trade growth
will follow
automatically,”
said Keck.
INSERT & CAPTION
Our import service
to Turkey has now
reached high success
levels.
– Martin Keck