‘Recovery is closer than we think’

Against the background of global economic recession, America has been one of the brighter spots over the past year, according to Margrit Wolff, MD of Buffalo Freight. “Our import trade from the USA has been buoyant, and is an area which has grown. We have had a few large export project shipments to the USA as well.” Trade with South America has also been on an upward trajectory, says Wolff, who believes that there are major opportunities internationally as the world begins to emerge from a challenging trading year. “It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where they lie, or when the opportunity will present itself. But one has to be open to all opportunities and take advantage of them as and when they appear.” While trade with the Far East has shown a decline, she says it’s picking up nicely along with volumes to Israel and India. “Up north, into Africa,” she added, “is also showing huge promise for us.” What are the challenges in dealing with the variety of markets in the company’s stable? Said Wolff: “Having good agents in the area to be able to assist with local challenges, and assist in explaining how the local market works for them, is crucial. While forwarding is pretty generic, each country has its own unique legislation regarding trade, customs, and shipping issues.” One of the issues of the moment when talking about seafreight links is the huge cuts in capacity from the Far East. “These have caused disruptions,” she said, “but not as great as initially thought.” She suggested that it had definitely been a challenging year. “But we have faced recessionary trends before,” she added, “and international trade will never die, although it may limp for a short while. “The recovery is definitely closer than we think.”