CONTAINER TRUST'S Steve van Doorn could do with a reefer or two right now; in fact 20 will do very nicely, thank you.
We are busy, busy, busy, he told FTW with a smile, adding: If I had 20 reefers available right now they would all be out.
A subsidiary of the giant Pescanova Group, Container Trust specialises in selling and leasing second hand reefers and dry general purpose boxes.
During 1999 the company sold a total of 1500 teus (twenty foot equivalent units). Reefers accounted for between R1,5million and R2-million while dry boxes brought in between R4-million and R5-million - 20% down on budget.
Van Doorn says the first three months of this year were probably better than corresponding months for the past four or five years. What is more, the pace did not slacken.
During the winter months sales were up to 50% higher than before and we are already 150% up at the start of summer.
He ascribes the success of reefers to successful marketing and public relations which has led to sales for a wide range of applications in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Angola.
One of these rather new applications is for drying animal hides. A Port Elizabeth-based company is currently leasing reefers for four months with an option to purchase which could mean at least six reefers being dispatched to De Aar, Beaufort West and Upington and singles to other parts of the country.
Container Trust does not do much in the way of new reefer sales but Van Doorn is hopeful that the company will soon be called on to supply two to the South African Navy for use on land and at sea. (New reefers cost about R120 000)
Rental for a 6m reefer is between R80 and R120 a month while they sell at between R25 000 and R28 000. Container Trust is currently sourcing its reefers primarily in Australia and dry boxes in Europe and the Far East.
Around 70% of the company's business lies in dry general purpose boxes, sales of which have been rather up and down this year.
We would have a boom one month and a slump the next. Last month (October) for example, we had a really big turnover in Johannesburg whereas our compeetition did not. It is a very difficult pattern to read.
As to what next year holds, Van Doorn is fairly optimistic. I hope business will be on a stronger footing, a much more even keel, due largely to the way things have improved over the past three months.
By Ray Smuts
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