'Rand's collapse throws out balance'

THE LATEST collapse in the rand, and the inevitable downturn in imports, will definitely throw the import/export balance out of kilter, according to a publicity-shy shipping line executive who will remain anonymous. "For some time now," he told FTW, "we've been export dominated." This was a swing away from a historic import-domination in trade where lines had hosts of empty containers littering the yards in SA, looking for ships to deploy them elsewhere. "This has now been reversed," said the shipowner, "with a shortage of boxes in the Republic for export traffic." But the latest downward pressure on imports will do no more than accelerate this already existing export/ import imbalance slightly, he added, and is not expected to cause any big stir in the marketplace. "If the situation became very dramatic," said the executive, "then a reduced rate, or similar market incentive, might be implemented to try to brake the trend. "But that's certainly not on the horizon at the moment."