South African airfreight carriers are growing their market share, moving cargo across the continent in the face of stiff competition from international competitors. This was the word from SAA Cargo national sales manager, Ronel Rossouw, who said the company had positioned itself to grow its 57% market share to at least 65% in the near future. “Our biggest drive is to connect Africa to the world and the world to Africa so all focus is to expand our network within the continent,” Rossouw said. “Year on year we have seen a small growth but it is in proportion to the capacity that we have supplied and global trends. We have grown our revenue 12% year on year and that in this very difficult market is a great achievement,” she said. The bulk of imports and exports on the continent are driven by clients involved in special projects such as the development of new food chain stores, mining, automotive supplies and pharmaceuticals, she added. “Mining has been very quiet from South Africa but we see the demand increasing again, so we’re positive it will grow. Pharmaceuticals and perishables are now the biggest demand on the continent,” Rossouw said. “South Africa feeds most countries with fresh produce and clothing supplies, while India is the biggest feeder of pharmaceutical products.” China was delivering “huge” volumes of automotive and electronic products, Rossouw said, but there had been a decrease in demand from the automotive sector due to cost cutting and better planning of production lines. “Airfreight is a premium service and more reliable for time-sensitive shipments. Our demand from China has remained consistent inbound to South Africa and southern Africa but we have experienced a decline in areas that can be accessed by road due to high cost – for example China cargo destined for Gaborone or Zimbabwe,” she said. European imports into South Africa remain strong, according to Rossouw. “Sadly, the market to Europe has seen a significant drop in yields and it’s almost not worth servicing, but we are hopeful that the current circumstance will change in the near future.” Rossouw added that competition in the airfreight sector remained stiff due to an oversupply of capacity by foreign airlines that continued to break into African markets, driving yields down. But there is a positive spin-off to growing competition. “The future prospects for Africa are great as we continue to be an attractive continent for trade due to opportunities opening up,” Rossouw said. “We hope it is going to keep growing and our aim is to concentrate on supporting Africa to get their cargo to the world at a competitive price. This will help countries in the region to benefit from opportunities offered by the rest of the world.” INSERT 12% SAA's year-on-year revenue increase.
