CSAV sets up own SA agency operation

THE CHILEAN shipping line, Compania SudAmericana de Vapores (CSAV), has just concluded a joint-venture with the Bidvest group – and established its own agency operation in SA. “The choice of Bidvest as joint-venture partners was firmly based on the fact that, for the past 10-years, our line has been working with Bidvest subsidiary Rennies Ships Agency,” said Rogelio Busto, general director of CSAV in SA. Also, for the line to continue growing in the area – and with plans to hub through SA to West and East African ports – Busto pointed out the value of working with a local partner who was alert to the trading conditions in the African region. A main reason for establishing CSAV Group Agencies in SA, according to GM Chris Glen, is to put the CSAV brand directly in front of the line’s client base. “It’s part of a global strategy to expose the CSAV brand through our own agencies,” he told FTW. Another benefit of CSAV Group Agencies, according to Busto, is that it will be based on the line’s own working philosophy. “It fits our vision and allows us to become an essential player in our customers’ distribution chain,” he said, “allowing them to effectively focus on their business.” It also fulfils what Busto described as the line’s need to find new opportunities. “It is part of our desire to have a strategic focus on SA and Africa, and we’ve been busy assessing this potential.” The line presently has three links with SA, according to Glen. “We currently have the ASAX service,” he said, “with our fleet running between the East Coast of South America (ECSA) and the Far East – with vessels sailing from Brazil calling at Durban on the eastbound leg. “We also have the Discovery service, which links the Far East with SA – and has calls in both Durban and Cape Town; and the Marco Polo service, which calls at Durban on the westbound leg from the Middle East, Indian subcontinent to ECSA.”