King & Sons on growth path with Messina agency under its wing

KING & Sons is leveraging the strength of the Grindrod group to develop its ship’s agency business in Mozambique. With Grindrod having purchased 100% of the company in late 2006, King & Sons Mozambique is on a growth path, says managing director André Botes, who took over the Mozambican operation in March 2007. One of the first wins is being appointed ship’s agents for the Messina Line. “We have concluded a deal with Ignazio Messina Line to act as their agents and will be supporting them in expanding and growing their liner service in Mozambique,” says Botes. “We also represent various blue chip companies in the liner/non-liner trade as well as clearing and forwarding,” he says. Clients include NYK, NYKLC, Hapag Lloyd , Bridge Shipping, Columbus Stainless, WFP, and Hamburg Süd. Botes is upbeat about prospects for Mozambique. “The government announcement of an upgrade of the Sena rail line from Tete to Beira and the upgrade of various roads, together with the revamp of the coal industry, will have a positive effect on the whole region. “Various mineral projects around Nacala and talk of grain silos in that area have brought a new wave of optimism. Each port you visit is optimistic about the future and is doing feasibility studies on various big projects which will in turn promote more investments. “With the development of the Maputo corridor, we are hoping to see a big increase in the volumes of cargo moving through Maputo,” he adds. King & Sons (Moz) is catering for the expected growth. “We have revamped our service and have upgraded all our offices in the major ports of Mozambique. “We have also increased training, and have sent staff to South Africa for further education where needed. I have made the commitment to our staff that we will develop Mozambican managers. There are already Mozambican managers in the ports of Nacala and Beira,” he says. Data links to the King & Sons network through Durban have also been upgraded to enable the company to offer a full logistics service, including tracking and tracing and to support a new freight department. “With our commitment to creating more employment we have already opened and developed new divisions within our branches, which in turn has seen an increase in staff numbers,” he says.