Five direct sailings from the Far East

TALK OF an economic slowdown hasn’t dented the positive outlook at International Liner Agencies which is set for a rerun of its 30% year on year volume growth. “We’ve invested heavily in overseas sales trips for our trade managers which has paved the way for continued growth. We see this investment period as a time to really turn up the heat on sales and route development, which is an ongoing process at ILA. For our trade managers it is an investment in their development and of course the future of ILA,” marketing director Raymond Cutts told FTW. “As the market is aware, one of ILA’s major strengths is the Far East and now we operate more than five direct sailings into South Africa. The development of these services has enabled us to improve on transit times by employing the most direct services, reduce handling through eliminating hubs and be very competitive in terms of our pricing.” Direct services are currently available from Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. “These are all tried and tested services that work well – but we’re keeping an eye on any new industrial areas that develop and will grow these in tandem with our Far East partners and other strategic alliances as fast as we can,” he said. And while the focus continues to fall on generating as much as possible out of the East, ILA is still firmly committed to its more traditional markets like the North West Continent and Italy, India and Brazil – a relatively new market – which are all generating good volumes.