Well-rooted exporters are doubling volumes

“Despite all the negative economic predictions we have picked up quite a lot of imports and we are upbeat about this year. In South Africa guys like Trevor Manuel made the right calls at the right time and this is a storm we will weather,” says Clinton Phillips, general manager of Durban-based Summit Warehousing. He believes that raw material is cheaper to import than buy in South Africa and, while there has been a downward trend in the mining sector, there has been an upturn in other areas such as electrical transformers and other cargo for Eskom projects. “Our clients’ feedback has also not been all doom and gloom. Some exports are doubling although some companies are talking about retrenchments. The companies that are wellrooted will keep growing and do well.” Phillips believes the next six to ten months may be difficult. “But it will give us time to consolidate our operations and gear up for the expected inflow. Summit is currently spending approximately R5 million on expansion at our warehouse in Durban. We are getting better organised in terms of vehicle flow and the like. “We have had to do the extensions because of the business coming our way and will make sure that in 2009 we help our clients to grow their businesses too,” Phillips told FTW.