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Tumbling ocean rates see S African traders take to the sea
来源：shippingazette 编辑：编辑部 发布：2023/03/08 14:37:06
SOUTH Africa is set to see a shift from air freight as importers and exporters eye tumbling sea freight rates and improved ocean reliability.
The automotive industry in particular will rely less on air, delegates heard at last week's Air Cargo Africa event in Johannesburg, reports London's Loadstar.
"The market has been very volatile," explained Renaj Moothilal, executive director of South Africa's component manufacturer association, NAACAM.
"The component market depends on a globally integrated value chain. You can't have 99 per cent of components, you need 100 per cent.
"In the past, we've moved mostly by sea freight, but over the [pandemic] years, we've had a huge uptake towards air. Sea had issues. We've seen a 60 per cent to 70 per cent increased use of airfreight over the last three or four years."
But he added: "The component sector is cost-sensitive, and cost will always be a key decision driver. But to avoid being the cause of an assembly line shutting down, the use of aircraft became a lot more prevalent."
Jacques Mellet, head of logistics for Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra, said his company had also turned to air freight.
"We do just-in-time logistics, so sea freight is always a challenge. Covid had a huge impact and we had to turn to air. Normally, we do 80 per cent sea freight, now it's more like 60:40 or 50:50. We have to ensure plants run smoothly."
But he said air capacity had been hard to find. He explained: "Not a lot of airlines were available, especially out of India, where we only had Emirates."
Nhlamulo Mashimbye, head parts & sales at Daimler Truck Southern Africa, said he needed speed and reliability.
"Those are the most important things to us. We began to enforce the services we needed - we have penalty clauses. That forces you to resort to air otherwise you'll end up paying more [by getting fines for delayed shipments]."
According to the latest data from research consultancy Trade Data Service (TDS), last year air accounted for about 20 per cent of the value of South African trade, with sea and road accounting for 67 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively. Overall trade by air declined by 1.2 per cent last year, but exports were up slightly, by 0.5 per cent, and much of the decline in imports was associated with a drop in Covid vaccines delivered.
But air volumes will fall this year, said the car companies. Mr Mellet said: "Sea freight rates are coming down and cheaper now than four years ago, so we won't move much by air if we can ship it.
"We will always use air it'll always be in the background. But sea is cheaper."
The automotive industry in particular will rely less on air, delegates heard at last week's Air Cargo Africa event in Johannesburg, reports London's Loadstar.
"The market has been very volatile," explained Renaj Moothilal, executive director of South Africa's component manufacturer association, NAACAM.
"The component market depends on a globally integrated value chain. You can't have 99 per cent of components, you need 100 per cent.
"In the past, we've moved mostly by sea freight, but over the [pandemic] years, we've had a huge uptake towards air. Sea had issues. We've seen a 60 per cent to 70 per cent increased use of airfreight over the last three or four years."
But he added: "The component sector is cost-sensitive, and cost will always be a key decision driver. But to avoid being the cause of an assembly line shutting down, the use of aircraft became a lot more prevalent."
Jacques Mellet, head of logistics for Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra, said his company had also turned to air freight.
"We do just-in-time logistics, so sea freight is always a challenge. Covid had a huge impact and we had to turn to air. Normally, we do 80 per cent sea freight, now it's more like 60:40 or 50:50. We have to ensure plants run smoothly."
But he said air capacity had been hard to find. He explained: "Not a lot of airlines were available, especially out of India, where we only had Emirates."
Nhlamulo Mashimbye, head parts & sales at Daimler Truck Southern Africa, said he needed speed and reliability.
"Those are the most important things to us. We began to enforce the services we needed - we have penalty clauses. That forces you to resort to air otherwise you'll end up paying more [by getting fines for delayed shipments]."
According to the latest data from research consultancy Trade Data Service (TDS), last year air accounted for about 20 per cent of the value of South African trade, with sea and road accounting for 67 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively. Overall trade by air declined by 1.2 per cent last year, but exports were up slightly, by 0.5 per cent, and much of the decline in imports was associated with a drop in Covid vaccines delivered.
But air volumes will fall this year, said the car companies. Mr Mellet said: "Sea freight rates are coming down and cheaper now than four years ago, so we won't move much by air if we can ship it.
"We will always use air it'll always be in the background. But sea is cheaper."