‘Pressure on service providers to reduce costs’

Despite talk of double-dip recession and economic downturn, the future still looks positive for containers as well as the range of services required when dealing with the container industry, says Willie Jansen van Vuuren, general manager of United Container Depots, a division of Novagroup. But when times are tough there’s more pressure on service providers to give the same level of service but reduce the costs to shipping lines, he told FTW. “We are seeing fewer repairs, lower standard of repairs, faster turnaround of containers, while more traditional non-chargeable services are expected from depots – all at lower unit costs.” He said some 15 years ago approximately 67% of all containers entering a container depot had to have some sort of repair done to them. The standards of quality required by shipping lines reduced this to about 33% some eight years ago and currently it is in the region of about 20%. “This puts operators under significant pressure because there are fewer opportunities and capacity available at empty depots to sustain this service at a profitable level,” said Jansen van Vuuren. “Repairs are generally only done in South Africa when a container is required for exports.” In terms of developments in the container industry, Jansen van Vuuren said reefer technology continued to improve and service providers like United were having to constantly equip themselves accordingly. “It is important to stay ahead of developments at all times. A number of subsidiary services required in support of containerisation will develop through time. The challenge we face in a developing country is to provide the logistical environment and infrastructure to meet this need. Government and parastatals should not compete with the private sector, but rather create the opportunities and the infrastructure for private business to thrive,” he said.