GROUPAGE OPERATOR Nvocc Freight Services has come up with a new kind of marketing to boost its volumes. This month Singapore is ‘on special’ – free freight to Singapore. And there are more ‘specials’ to come, with reduced rates to Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Port Louis and Tema for two months from August. “We are seeing significant growth in both our inbound and outbound cargo, says Durban branch manager, Janine Schoeman. The ‘special’ to Singapore has generated 12 new clients who represented 70% of the incoming inquiries once the offer was made known. The company regularly offers special rates to various destinations. The current ‘special’ of free freight to Singapore is valid until the end of July. All the client pays on freight are the South African cargo dues. She reports that the company’s freight volume to Singapore each week has doubled (from a 20’ container to a 40’). “More clients are using the service to this area, as we also offer good transhipment rates using Singapore as our hub.” The August/September special rate to Mombasa (Kenya), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Port Louis (Mauritius) is US$35 per weight measure (per cubic metre/or per ton) on all freight while to the port of Tema (Ghana) it’s US$65 per weight measure. When Schoeman joined the company in August last year, she knew she had her work cut out for her. Now nearly 10 months later the company’s seafreight business is booming. It offers weekly services to Tema, Lagos, Singapore, Mombasa and Port Louis. It also has fortnightly services to Dar es Salaam, Felixstowe, Rotterdam and once a month to Dubai and Maputo. “Our import volumes have increased with new agents in South America, Spain, and China. We offer weekly inbound services from these countries as well as from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and the UK, and a fortnightly service from India, Pakistan, Netherlands and New Zealand.”
