Direct LCL services offer comprehensive coverage

Whether it’s the strong rand, the World Cup, the end of the recession or simply aggressive sales and service, for independent groupage operator CFR Freight, volumes out of the Far East have been exceptional – and the outlook is equally positive, says managing director Martin Keck. “Imports from the Far East have gone through the roof over the past few months,” says Keck. “The fact that shipping lines were unable to implement a peak season surcharge tells you that overall volumes are not there. Perhaps we are in a fortunate niche where FCL turns into LCL business.” Strong volumes from China may also be related to the upcoming festive season, with people stocking up early because of the strong rand, says Keck. Whatever the reason, the volumes are good – and CFR’s direct services cover the region comprehensively, serving Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao, Tianjin and Guangzhou from China as well as other direct services from Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. Director Peter Schmidt- Löffler believes an aggressive sales drive has been a large contributor to the company’s success in retaining and securing business. “We’ve been pushing on sales and focusing strongly on customer service.” Rate and service stability are crucial, says Keck. “While shipping lines may be dropping rates because of capacity issues, our focus is on providing a stable service and offering clients added value features like speedy documentation and data flow through EDI.” The last three months of the year are traditionally very strong months, says Schmidt-Löffler, and this year is expected to be no different. “On the export side it’s less to do with the Christmas rush but rather related to the builders’ holidays affecting the manufacturing industry as well,” says Keck. “People are emptying their warehouses before December 15.” Looking back on the year as a whole, business has been better than expected – and both Keck and Schmidt-Löffler are confident of more of the same for 2011.