THE INTERNATIONAL express air transport sector is an exuberant part of SA's airfreight industry.
According to the latest estimate from DHL International's market analysis, express transport grew by 50% in turnover in 1995 over 1994 - breaking a calculated R1-billion barrier for the first time.
Commercial manager Johan Schoeman now assesses growth at 40% on a year-on-year basis. In keeping with the general economic slowdown, he said, but still buoyant. While Nora-Jean Freeman, g.m. of marketing at Federal Express (FedEX), confesses herself as very conservative in her estimates, she also sees a current growth of around the 30%-plus level.
She also agrees that there has been a slow-down in this year's performance - obviously also following the depreciation of the rand - but suggests that the express industry also captures share during tough times. I am sure that, as people click-on to JIT (just in time) inventory management to combat high import costs, we will get an increasing share of the time-sensitive airfreight market, Freeman said.
Schoeman also sees another area of business developing. The depreciation of the rand creates a price window for exporters, he said. And their extra activity is often our gain. This beats the standard airfreight sector's growth by some 15 percentage points.
According to a crunching of numbers from John Gentleman, g.m. of Grindrod International Freight; Arnold Garber, m.d. of Compu-Clearing; and Charles Fairweather, chief executive of SAA Cargo, FTW produced its latest trend analysis.
This displayed an estimated growth of around 35% for 1995 over 1994; about 25% for the first half of this year, following the slump in the rand; and still some slackening in this second-half - although not that significant, according to our commentators.
In the airline's latest five-year report, SAA estimates continued growth to sit at the 15% a year mark - eight points above the global average estimated by IATA (International Air Transport Association) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) for airfreight growth into the next millennium.
