Matvin secures contract with major shipping line

‘Hands-on’ approach pays off KEVIN MAYHEW A NEW player in the Zambian market, Matvin International has grown volumes steadily since the launch of its service in August 2005, securing a shipping line contract to run all Zambian-destined containers on a through bill of lading basis from Durban. Based on this it has developed a daily groupage and full load service which complements the container traffic. “The Zambian market took us by surprise as we always thought it was dominated by bigger players, but this has not been the case,” director of the Johannesburg-based company Jeremy Smith told FTW. “With our smaller more ‘hands-on approach’ we have managed to move into this market without too many headaches and we now have the problem of keeping up with the demand.” In addition to Zambia, Matvin runs a full road service into Tanzania and is also very busy in both Dar es Salaam and surrounding areas feeding the infrastructure development that has taken off over the last few years. The northern mining areas around the Mwanza region, which are being developed to meet the massive demand for raw materials, are also fuelling demand. Smith says Tanzanian roads are reasonably good and improving as the need for greater access is realised. “The only real problems faced are the main feeder roads running into the mining areas which are still very poor, especially through the rainy season when they become nearly impassable. Excessive red tape to ship and clear goods into the country also poses problems.” Matvin uses established hauliers and also sub-contracts a number of smaller Zimbabwean hauliers to take on the more difficult routes. The company works closely with most of the established clearing agents and in some cases runs partnerships to meet the needs of the bigger players.