Röhlig-Grindrod’s new MD offers his perspective

Seafreight oligarchies, capacity turnaround, airfreight shrinkage … KEVIN MAYHEW OVER THE next five years, the focus at Röhlig-Grindrod will be dominated by expansion of its information technology capacity, greater synergy with its extensive overseas network, and maximum leverage of the expanding capacity of the Grindrod Group. The major changes in sea and air freight will also affect the nature of the freight forwarder in the short to medium term, says newly appointed MD Hylton Gray. Gray succeeded Peter Krafft who recently retired as MD of the company after a 39- year link with the Röhlig brand in South Africa. For the industry in general, he believes that one of the key elements for change in the short term will be security. “Particularly as all security programmes tend towards the stricter American model introduced to try to shield it from terrorism, counterfeit goods and illegal trafficking of banned substances or products, and to a lesser extent the illegal movement of people. He said the expansion of seafreight companies through acquisition and the order books for more ships indicate that the sea lanes of the world will be dominated by a few major players – an oligarchy of sorts. “Large ships are on order by all the major lines and there is likely to be a turnaround resulting in too much available shipping space compared with the present shortage. Initially, I do not think that the larger ships servicing the South African market will be fully utilised. However this business has one constant – the peak and trough nature of available space as the fortunes of the world’s major economies fluctuate - so it will probably change again. For shippers this presents the very real possibility of a price war or premium rates being linked to superior service along the supply chain,” he said. On the airfreight side he predicts that larger freighters and greater cargo capacity on bigger passenger liners will not influence the industry as much as in sea freight services. Airfreight in Africa has grown over the last few years and continues to be a key market for airlines and South African companies. “Airfreight might be in a potential shrinking stage as technology enables more and more product to be transported by sea. This is particularly true of perishable transport as technology enables better and more reliable temperature control, and better facilities are established in more ports being serviced by faster vessels on more routes. Generally though, airfreight and freight in general into Africa has grown over the last few years and continues to be a key market for airlines and South African companies,” he concluded.