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
