In the highly volatile Far
East market, where volumes
– in line with global trends
– have been fairly stagnant,
service providers are under
pressure to retain their share
of the available business.
For neutral groupage
operator CFR Freight,
it’s about leveraging the
strength of its international
partner Shipco Transport
which now represents the
company in the whole
of China – Shanghai,
Guangzhou, Shenzhen,
Xiamen, Hong Kong and
Dalian, with booking offices
in Qingdao and Ningbo.
“At CFR we are flexible
enough and have the
necessary resources to
adapt to the peaks and
troughs. We continue to
offer direct import services
from nine Chinese ports
as well as Korea, Taiwan,
Singapore and Thailand,
while all exports to the
region are transhipped
through Singapore,” says
managing director Martin
Keck.
According to Keck,
there’s been no problem with
capacity and in view of the
economic landscape, he does
not foresee a peak season.
“In fact the carriers have
just reduced rates after a
fairly good run over the past
10 months when they were
able to stem the downward
rates trend,” he told FTW.
While realistically he does
not see an upturn
in the near future, the Far
East will continue to be a
strong focus for CFR for
the year ahead.
“And while a number
of groupage operators are
accepting cargo at any cost
– even if it means dealing
with cargo owners directly –
this is an area where CFR is
intractable.
“For us neutrality is not
an option – it’s a deciding
differentiator.”
CAPTION
Martin Keck … direct import
services from nine Chinese ports.
