Dreamstime
African airfreight is seeing something of a boom from the disruption in ocean freight across the Middle East, but forwarders remain sceptical as to whether it will provoke long-term structural benefits.
Hennie Heymans, CEO of DHL Express’s Sub-Saharan Africa operations, told The Loadstar the shift from ocean services had left airfreight the only viable alternative to keep goods moving.
“When people run into trouble from a seafreight point of view, the alternative becomes airfreight, becomes express, and that is a notable trend across African airfreight’s growth momentum at the moment,” Mr Heymans told The Loadstar.
For DHL Express, the timing has proved particularly useful, coinciding with the launch of its Heavy Weight Express service, allowing its customers to ship consignments of up to 3,000kg, with individual pieces of up to 1,000kg.
Expanding beyond smaller parcels, the new service is designed for automotive, energy, engineering, machinery, and pharmaceuticals, Mr Heymans noting the significant cost implications delays place on these sectors.
“The timing of the launch worked out quite well, which makes the conversation a lot easier, and a lot more comfortable for those customers seeking these sorts of services,” explained Mr Heymans.
However, he did not disclose how much additional volume DHL Express had gained as a result of shipping disruption, nor how much of the growth in airfreight was a result of transference from ocean freight over underlying growth patterns.
Anecdotal evidence from forwarders active on the African west and south coasts indicates that the continent is experiencing an uptick in demand for capacity, with overall volumes growing, but none was able to tell The Loadstar how the present situation should be assessed.
One forwarder said: “There’s definite growth in demand for capacity in and out of certain countries around the continent – Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana are big lanes for us – but if it is specific modes, we can only say that uptick in airfreight bookings is transference.”
Others believe there are long-term prospects on the airfreight side for the continent’s major players, with forwarders noting that the chaos in the Middle East, issues with the US, and looming threats in Asia were leading all to reconsider their supply chain make-up.