Despite a general slowdown in trade activity in China, the LCL market saw no evidence of this as independent groupage operator CFR Freight recorded 5% growth on the route, according to managing director Martin Keck. “We’ve been running our regular direct services from nine ports in China and our agency muscle in the Far East is growing through our partnership with the World Wide Alliance,” Keck told FTW. “Shipco Transport bought into a Korean entity and opened offices in Xiamen and Taiwan. We used to have a patchwork of offices, but now we have the entire region comprehensively covered.” Groupage exports into the Far East are hubbed through Singapore and this is a well established and efficient system, said Keck. While the LCL sector may not have been affected by the general slowdown in trade, the overcapacity in the shipping sector has had the knock-on effect of rate cutting. “We hope that the GRI announced in November will be implemented because the current rate levels seem unsustainable for the shipping lines,” said Keck. “And this culture of ratecutting is spilling over into the local landside fees, which is extremely unhealthy. Everyone knows where inflation is, that port charges go up and that salaries must rise, but we’re continually asked to drop our rates. Ultimately this is not sustainable either.” In terms of airfreight, China is one of CFR’s top airfreight products along with the US and Germany, according to airfreight general manager Stephen Bishop. “We’re seeing very positive response to our Hong Kong and Shanghai products and are upbeat about further growth. “China is a route that we are marketing jointly with our partner Shipco who will once again be visiting local customers in the first quarter next year.” The China route is being marketed aggressively on several platforms, said Bishop. “We recently represented the Air Cargo Group and the World Wide Alliance at The Freight Summit in Bangkok as part of continued efforts to further penetrate this key market.” And while China is punted as one of the company’s “Rolls Royce” products, CFR also offers airfreight services from several other Asian markets within the Air Cargo Group network. INSERT & CAPTION The China route is being marketed aggressively on several platforms. – Stephen Bishop
