Carving a niche

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Blossom Cashin, International Freight Agency general manager.

Dubai's growing status as a global transhipment hub is throwing up niche export opportunities for shipping agencies based there. International Freight Agency general manager, Blossom Cashin, explains how automotive trade with the Black Sea region is driving the agency business to new heights.

Has International Freight Agency specialised in any particular sector?

We can handle all cargo needs, imports and exports, cross trades, full container loads, and less than container loads, but our main focus at the moment is sea freight exports, and we're handling around 700 containers a month. Sea freight accounts for 90% of the goods and shipments IFA handles, with maybe only 10% going by air. We specialise in cars going into the Black Sea region, and now almost 50% of our business goes there. Ukraine and Russia are the primary destinations, and we send everything via DP World's Jebel Ali port.

Does the automotive export market pose any particular challenges?

The majority of what we are shipping out of the United Arab Emirates are brand new cars, and we send everything by containers, so in freight terms it's not overly complicated. We tend to use 40ft high cube containers, and we can fit three 4x4 vehicles in each unit. If we happen to be sending standard saloon cars then we'll safely get four into each unit. We specialise in these trades and we've really capitalised on that market. Word spread quite organically about what we were doing and the car dealers we were doing business with recommended our services. We've managed to carve quite a niche in that market.

Has business grown in the last couple of years?

Business has been growing at an exceptional rate since 2005. We've maintained an excellent relationship with Maersk and our customer base, and especially those companies exporting to the Black Sea region. We're among the top 20 exporters for Maersk in the UAE. Because of this we're able to offer very competitive rates on these routes and that has helped us grow. For most of our clients the business model involves buying cars in bulk here and shipping them into the Black Sea region, which is also proving lucrative for them.

Do IFA operations differ significantly from other agencies based in Dubai?

Many of the agencies here are import driven, and rather than compete in a very crowded market we've chosen to stay focussed on the export side.

How do you ensure that the operations from this end maintain high standards?

I have a zero tolerance policy with regard to administrative errors. The way staff are trained means there are strict procedures that are followed which rule out the sort of errors that would delay a shipment. We collate all the information from the clients and have guidelines on this with all of our customers. If these guidelines are not met then we don't accept the booking.

What challenges are impacting the agency business at the moment?

Traffic in Dubai is a big problem. A few years ago the sales team would be able to make eight appointments in a day, now that's three if you're lucky. Now most of the business is done on the phone in the car. If a salesman heads out to Sharjah to see a client then that really can take a whole day. Traditionally there was a great deal more face to face interaction with customers. Despite these challenges we still manage to see people at least on a monthly basis.

Has this impacted the logistics of moving goods around the UAE?

Yes, truckers are in very heavy demand right now. It's got to the point where if something came up last minute, then one of the major challenges is that there isn't sufficient availability of vehicles and drivers at short notice. This boils down to the fact that the number of moves haulier companies can make in any one day are limited by the road access restrictions, which has had a knock-on effect of driving up haulage costs too.

Would you consider opening another office outside the dry port?

If I was to open another office I would have it in the Jebel Ali Free Zone to serve the customers based there.

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