Logistics major buys pharmaceutical specialist UPS yesterday announced an agreement to purchase Italy-based Pieffe Group. “This acquisition supports UPS’s on-going global healthcare strategy, which has seen the company make investments to better serve its growing customer base in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries,” said UPS Europe president Jim Barber. SA moves from surplus to deficit South Africa registered a hefty trade deficit for October 2011 of R9.6 billion compared to a deficit of R3.1 billion in the same month last year. This compares with a surplus of R2.5 billion in September. Ford hands seafreight carrier three service excellence awards Safmarine took home three awards at Ford Motor Company of South Africa’s (FMCSA) Customer Services Operations Division Award ceremony held in Johannesburg last week. Logistics major gets empowerment rating Barloworld Logistics, the supply chain management company in the Barloworld stable, has been awarded a Level 2 empowerment rating by the Empowerdex agency. Massive gas find in Mozambique Confirmation of massive Mozambican gas reserves that are bigger than those in the North Sea are a game changer for economic development and energy supply in southern Africa. US company Anadarko Petroleum announced in November that test drilling showed usable reserves of 15 to 30 trillion cubic feet (Tcf).
