Strong rand and shrinking textile exports set stage for ‘flat’ year ahead

JOY ORLEK AS BRITISH Airways World Cargo, along with the rest of the industry, positions itself for growth out of Asia, its southern African ambitions are less optimistic. “Over the last three or four years we’ve seen growth out of Africa as we’ve added capacity, but after a difficult year where exports have been suppressed by the strong rand, we predict a fairly flat year ahead,” BAWC managing director Gareth Kirkwood told FTW. The stronger rand and improved technology that has seen several commodities moving from air to sea as beleaguered exporters battle to contain costs, have resulted in lower export volumes. Add to this the tapering off of Agoa-related garment traffic which has seen volumes from Africa to the US nosediving. While the majority of the airline’s cargo both north- and southbound is direct traffic, its major African hub is Johannesburg, and this is likely to remain so. “If the market were to improve we would bring on additional frequencies rather than looking at alternative gateways. But if we had capacity today it would be going into Asia not Africa,” said Kirkwood. Referring to some of the unique challenges at Johannesburg International Airport, security is one of the top priorities where BA has achieved considerable success through a range of interventions, he added.