‘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.