Road consolidations take off

Demand for warehousing and
delivery services for consolidated
road freight into Zambia is taking
off, according to Chrispin Chiinda,
head of CEE CEE Freight & Suppliers.
The growth is being driven by some
stabilisation of the copper price and the
Zambian kwacha, he says.
“There is a lot of activity,” he told
FTW. New mines are being opened,
and many of those that shut down
when the copper price fell are
being reopened.
There are also “a lot of companies
doing mineral exploration”.
CEE CEE Freight project manages
the export of cobalt and copper by road
for one of the larger mines.
In response to the demand for
smaller loads, the company is moving
its road freight operations from its
warehouse at the Lusaka International
Airport to the city. The air freight
warehouse operations will stay at the
airport, which is about 20 kilometres
outside Lusaka.
Chiinda says smaller loads of road
freight bound for Zambia are being
consolidated in Johannesburg and
Dar es Salaam.
CEE CEE unpacks the containers
in Lusaka. The new warehouse will
be able to handle 30-ton loads, with
storage for up to 60 tons of freight.
“We will offer warehousing,
handling, storage and consolidation
services from the new premises,”
says Chiinda.
It plans to expand into door-to-door
services “from China through to the
destination in Zambia,” he says.
Agreements are already in place with
forwarders in Dubai, South Africa and
Hong Kong.