ISSUE 3 2011


MALTA FEATURE Business as usual for Parnis England Parnis England.


Leading Malta European trailer operator and forwarder Parnis England may have seen its UK partner RH Freight taken over by Kuhne & Nagel, but it will be business as usual, insists managing director Stephen Parnis England. “I don’t see any changes to the service, except maybe some improvements. We still have our regular trailer services a week from the UK – often up to four a week – and that will continue.”


Kuhne & Nagel does have its own traffic between the UK and Malta and combining that with the RH Freight volume could arguably strengthen the overall product, but it is early days yet, says Mr Parnis England. It is quite a conservative, and in some ways unusual market. “Whereas in most markets, control of the cargo can be at either end – perhaps 50-50 or so – in Malta, the vast majority of routings of groupage cargo are controlled and paid for here.”


No one is quite sure why. It might be that Maltese traders


believe – perhaps with some justification – that by playing the big fish in a small pond they can exercise more leverage over freight rates than someone dealing with a freight agent in another country, for whom Malta will probably represent a tiny fraction of their total business. It’s certainly true that groupage is an important element of the Maltese freight market, less so full trailer and containerloads


although these


also do exist of course. Most Maltese businesses are small- scale and many do not want to carry large stocks, particularly in the more seasonally driven markets, so importing little and often


is usually their modus


operandi. “In many ways it’s good for us,” comments Stephen Parnis England, “although it also makes a lot of administrative work for us too.”


Parnis England operates regular trailer services to other parts of Europe, notably Italy – where it is partnered with major trucker Sifte


Berti – Germany,


Benelux and, increasingly, central and Eastern Europe.


The pattern of services from the UK is mainly dictated by the ro ro ferry services from Genoa to Malta, departing the UK on Thursday afternoon and arriving in Malta Monday morning –


With such a long haul, rising fuel prices have inevitably had a major impact on freight charges and operating costs, both in terms of the fuel Parnis England consumes itself or the bunker adjustment factors levied by the ferry operators. “One tries to pass the higher costs on – with varying degrees of success,” comments Stephen Parnis England. Apart from driver wages and ferry charges, the other big cost for road operators is equipment renewal. Parnis England and its partners operate a wide range of trailers, including curtainsiders, box trailers, megatrailers and fridge units. “You need a diverse range of equipment in this market, though it can be hard to match ingoing and outgoing loads


with equipment.” Malta does now generate a the right sort of


No doubt Stephen Parnis England would concur with this Maltese bus operator’s comment on the price of diesel


which is virtually as fast as the journey can be done legally. It would theoretically be possible to have other departures but the nature of groupage traffic, with loads accumulated as the week progresses, lends itself to a departure towards the end of the working week, explains Mr


surprisingly large amount of exports for such a small country, including pharmaceuticals, electronics and recycled material, along with some processed foodstuffs, wine and other beverages. That said, imports are always likely to heavily outweigh exports.


The recent turmoil in Libya has already had profound effects for Maltese traders and the longer term effects for the island may be even greater. Malta has always had close trading links with the North African country, but very little if any commercial traffic was reported to be moving there in early May. Maltese traders who habitually despatched consignments to the country have been left with unsold stocks. The Maltese freight industry can expect to recoup many of its losses if and when trade to Libya starts moving again, and aid and rehabilitation could give trade through Malta a short-term boost when reconstruction gets underway – although when that will happen is anybody’s guess. But the long-term implications for the Maltese economy as a whole are less clear. Many island companies have major business interests there. Several of the big names of European retailing were in fact represented on the high streets of Libya’s major towns and cities but in almost cases they are franchise operations, and many of those franchises are owned by Maltese companies. Other Maltese-owned businesses include hotels, restaurants and property. With widespread looting reported, along with damage to property, many of these companies will no doubt have to start from scratch when peace finally returns. However, the limited amount of information that has leaked out of Libya suggests that some retailers were still open for business in early May, albeit sporadically.


The ongoing situation, not only in Libya but in the Middle East


23


Which way now for the Libyan connection?


generally, has inevitably affected the shipping industry. Iran’s IRISL container shipping line, a major user of the Freeport, has had five of its ships detained around the world, including one in Malta, following the latest round of sanctions against their home country.


Meanwhile, there is the practical problem of what to do with all the Libyan-destined cargo piling up on the island. At one stage, there were over 400 small Chinese-manufactured Chevrolet cars – all white – in every nook and cranny of Valletta port, that had been ordered by the Libyan government.


The port has also processed a huge number of


evacuees,


many of whom were eventually repatriated by ship; the Chinese government even chartered a couple of large cruise ferries to get


its


people home. Valletta has also hosted naval vessels of all nations, recalling its days as a British base. Talks have been held with aid agencies to plan a humanitarian aid programme to Libya when the fighting abates, including discussions with the logistics arm of the Armed Forces of Malta, adds the MD of VGT, Peter Darley. “We have helped them prepare their contingency plans and briefed them on the handling facilities that are available. Malta is in fact blessed with ten or even 20 times as much port capacity than it needs to handle its own requirements so it shouldn’t be a problem as far as seafreight is concerned, although we know that the airport was very stretched earlier.”


>>UK TO MALTA GROUPAGE? WE’VE GOT IT COVERED.


www.carmelocaruana.com


Nineteen Twenty Three, Valletta Road, Marsa MRS 3000, Malta Tel: +356 2568 1555 Fax: +356 2568 1666


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