CARGO BUSINESS 1-10.indd - ZSSK Cargo

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The French want to benefit from the crisis
All of Europe, France included, was hit by the economic crisis, which
resulted in an extreme decrease in demand from October 2008.
Prices for raw materials fell sharply due to reduction of production
in automobile and construction sector; there was a collapse in the
European steel market. Companies were continuously reducing their
stock levels – this is how Mr. Jérôme Meline, representative of the
French railways (SNCF) for Central and Eastern Europe described the
situation in his country.
Decline in production and transportation
The highest decline was indicated in the automotive sector where the
manufacturing of new cars in 2009 was 20-25% lower than in 2008.
Steel production, which was 5-20% lower, copied this decrease.
Manufacturing of chemical products was reduced as well. Certain
areas, in particular production of inorganic products, petrochemicals
and polymers, were affected to a great extent, leading to closure of
some factories.
Railways deal with consequences of the crisis
Various railways in Europe have coped with the situation in different
ways. In the Czech Republic, Denmark, Great Britain and Estonia, they
acceeded to radical cost savings, reduction of employment and scope
of services as well as they cut salaries of top managers. In Germany
and Belarus, they reduced the price for transportation in order to
maintain their customers. As a result of crisis, privatization in Poland
and Denmark was postponed.
But the crisis does not have to be seen as only negative – Mr. Meline
emphasized. The companies should focus their strength on how to
use this negative situation and turn it into positive one. This way,
the economic crisis can also be used as a stimulus for structural
changes in a company and its stabilization. In order to maintain the
performance, each company needs to increase its flexibility and adapt
its pricing policy to the needs of the target group. The crisis offers new
opportunities for partnerships; it opens up the space for negotiations.
For the first six months of 2009, company SNCF reported a turnover of
12 billion EUR, a decline of 4% against the previous year. The biggest
decline occurred, in particular, in freight and logistics division of SNCF
Geoodis, where there was a fall of 15.6%, from over 4 billion EUR to
3.4 billion.
Development projects of SNCF
SNCF Fret has recently launched several projects. One of them was to
offer transportations of heavy trains according to European standards.
For this purpose, four new positions were created: train manager
specializing in shuttle combined transportation services, direction
north-south, train manager for agricultural products, train manager
for transportations of coal, iron and steel, with a focus on northeast
direction and ports of Antwerp and Dunkirk and an agent for
transportations of oil, chemical products and automobile production
for south-east direction. Another development strategy of SNCF
Fret is a new concept for transportation of single wagon shipments,
which is based on their optimization and carriage performed on the
basis of a specific, regular transportation plan, while the volumes of
transportations would be contracted with customers.
In the field of combined transport, a sharp increase is expected, due
to acquisition of company Novatrans and support of terminals. New
shuttle Ro-La trains from Luxembourg to Perpignan, from Lille to Turin
and from Lille to Paris and to Hendaye and high-speed freight trains on
the route Paris - Bordeaux - Montauban - Toulouse and Paris - Lyon -
Avignon - Miramas – Marseille are in operation.
Acquisition of new markets
The company continues to expand to Europe by means of external
growth, as well as creating partnerships. In April 2008, SNCF acquired
75% of German private railway undertaking ITL, which provides
traction services on majority of international routes in direction
east-west and vice versa for the transportations of coal, oil products
(methanol, mineral oils, kerosene) and chemical products (ammonia),
building materials (cement), agricultural products, containers, steel
products and other.
Currently, the acquisition of railway undertakings Veolia in Germany,
the Netherlands and Italy is being prepared. Veolia Cargo Germany
is the biggest private rail freight operator in Germany. It consists of
ten subsidiaries, employs nearly 600 people and it had a turnover of
around 160 million EUR in 2008. By this partnership, company SNFC
will take over the control of Rail4Chem, which shall provide for closer
access to the German market and strategic Betuwe Line.
Jana BARČIAKOVÁ
Trade Division
Jérôme MELINE
Jérôme Méline pracuje ako zástupca spoločnosti SNCF pre strednú
a východnú Európu. Momentálne žije v Čechách. Na železniciach
pracuje od roku 1997 a prešiel rôznymi pozíciami. Začínal ako
prednosta stanice Gretz (FR), neskôr prešiel rôznymi riadiacimi
funkciami - či už prevádzkovými alebo kontrolingovými, až nakoniec
v januári 2009 nastúpil na dnešnú pozíciu. Okrem francúzštiny hovorí
plynulo po anglicky, nemecky a česky.
Jérôme Méline works as a representative of company SNCF for Central
and Eastern Europe. He is currently living in the Czech Republic. He
has been working in railways since 1997 and has had different jobs.
He started as a stationmaster of station Gretz (FR), then he had
several jobs in management, either in operation or in controlling, and
finally he undertook his current post in January 2009. In addition to
French, he speaks fluent English, German and Czech.
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