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.