European trade switches emphasis

There’s a change of emphasis on the
European trade which is moving from
southbound- to northbound dominant,
says Deutsche Afrika Linien managing
director Ron Frick.
“We see the fall-out from the car
industry affecting manufacturers and subsuppliers
of components.
“We’re already starting to hear of subsuppliers
shutting down and although the
percentage decrease so far has been in
the region of 5-10%, we haven’t seen the
worst of it yet.
“Some manufacturers closed down
for Christmas holidays and some like
Volkswagen are retooling for the new
Polo, so we really don’t know what
the consequential effects will be. But
clearly new cars are not being sold and
a lot of local manufacturers who are
manufacturing for export to the US are
not getting the orders.”
Movement of dry cargo to Europe has
however not been as badly affected as the
Far East, which was heavily dependent
on minerals, ferro-chromes and chrome
sand – and that sector has virtually dried
up overnight.
Since the Europe market has
traditionally grown no more than 1-2%
per annum, the downturn is also likely to
be less significant than the likes of the Far
East – although the automotive industry
could still have a major dramatic effect.
“From a DAL perspective, as a familyowned
organisation it’s always been more
conservative in its investment policies and
therefore is less likely to be as severely
affected by the global downturn,”
said Frick.
A recent new development has seen
the appointment of Hartmut Luhr as
managing director.
Previously with Hapag Lloyd, he
brings a wealth of industry experience to
the position.