WITH A 44.6% increase in IATA turnover in 2003, Röhlig Grindrod gained R32.8-million – the second largest cash increase in the year’s Top 30 – pushing its turnover to R106.4-m, and taking a very strong 5th spot in the league. Airfreight operations director Sarel Pretorius attributes this big upward bump to a number of contracts acquired as part of the rebuilding programme in Iraq. These, he told FTW, were project cargoes – shipping in a range of commodities designated as basic necessities in the reconstruction of this war-torn Middle Eastern state. As for the airfreight market in general, Pretorius pointed to the strong rand making it “a hard slog out there”. To overcome this, Röhlig Grindrod concentrated on looking for market opportunities. “And we were lucky with that,” said Pretorius. The into-Africa market remained a continuing focus for the company last year, and he highlighted good growth for the company in this developing export market. So much so that Röhlig Grindrod is busy increasing its presence in the continent – with a recent investment in offices in Tanzania being one indicator of this effort. “We are looking at expanding our network in Africa,” Pretorius said, “already with our own offices in Mozambique and Zimbabwe – and a very strong presence in the latter. “We also have a strong partner agent in Angola, and we are currently negotiating with a similarly strong agent in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).” This sets the company up for what Pretorius described as “a big thrust” into Africa.
