SCS Safmarine

Grindrod is a shipping company which was founded 100 years ago by Captain John Grindrod; the company was started as a small shipping company that was based in Durban, and is in the continual process of growing and emerging into a powerful shipping and freight business.

Alan Olivier, CEO of Grindrod believes that there is lot more to shipping and owning ships as far as business is concerned.

It is therefore of particular interest that there has been an increase of 34% in the company’s revenue at the end of 2010; most of this revenue is not shipping-related. The majority of this income is derived from freight-related business.

Because shipping is renowned for being a volatile business, Grindrod will put focus and energy into their ports and terminals, as this will take away some of the pressure.

2010 was perceived as being tough for the shipping business on the whole; this is primarily due to the fact that there is an over-supply of ships and vessels.

It is obvious that there are more vessels that are all rivals and challenging each other for business, therefore rates will be adversely affected.

Grindrod has been spared this fluctuation as a contract is already in place. Due to this foresight it means that Grindrod’s shipping division is way ahead of its game.

Shipping is still the company’s largest part of the business.

Despite the fact that the shipping industry is taking strain globally, trading conditions for Grindrod have improved, both locally and internationally. There is a definite, positive upswing in trading for this company, and particularly in the merchandise that is being shipped by Grindrod.