Alan Peat
THERE'S BEEN a seismic shift in the marketplace.
That's how Philip Womersley, m.d. of Safcor Panalpina, sees the Bidvest re-acquisition of the 20% minority shareholding held by Circle (now Eagle Global Logistics) in Renfreight - and that company's link-up with Panalpina as main, international agency partner.
For three months Renfreight will be acting in SA for Circle, Renfreight m.d. Gareth Griffiths told FTW. Then EGL will be opening its own offices here.
The fact that both SA forwarders are now Bidvest-owned, and there is a common link with Panalpina, he sees as perfectly manageable.
The history of the past two years, Womersley told FTW, shows quite clearly that we (Safcor Panalpina and Renfreight) have competed quite effectively in the marketplace - despite the common ownership.
The two have already traded blows in the marketplace, he added, and this competitive element will still remain.
The market perception that this latest move might herald the merger of the two SA companies - and their merging into Panalpina - gets no support from Womersley.
Brian Joffe (chairman of Bidvest) has made a public statement that he doesn't see a merger of Safcor Panalpina and Renfreight on the cards, he said.
The rationalisation benefits out of such a merger are only a fraction of the commercial risk involved.
To a large extent - if it was Bidvest's intention - now would be the time to do it, is how Womersley sees it.
But, he said, there is nothing on the radar screen at the moment about any changes in the present situation.
Each company has an image, flavour and market presence all of its own and a merger is not operationally sensible nor financially viable.
The distinct upside of the new arrangement, Womersley added, is that the SA forwarding industry will now have one dominant player.
From a forwarding point-of-view, he said, this gives rise to some very interesting possibilities, in Panalpina being able to use the joint volumes of both companies.
Also, the two SA companies complement each other - Renfreight being more biased to seafreight, and Safcor Panalpina to airfreight.
Another big advantage for both the SA players will be access to Panalpina's fleet of leased freighter aircraft - controlled by its subsidiary, Swiss Global Cargo.
Panalpina already flies a Boeing 747 freighter from Luxembourg to Johannesburg three times a week, Womersley told FTW.
There is now the opportunity to increase this. Ultimately to five flights a week - but four a week is definitely on the cards right now.
This, he added, complements the use of scheduled international carriers and allows both companies greater control of shipping frequencies and opportunities.
This Panalpina philosophy of being an integrated forwarder also pleases Womersley. It fits in very well with our own philosophy, he said, where we are looking to move from our previous clearing speciality more into the role of being an international forwarder.
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