Quarterly October 2004 - Odfjell

A South African traderin vegetable oilsBy Derrick Francis,Senior Trader, FR WaringFR Waring was founded in 1929, and isafter 75 years one of the oldest tradinghouses in South Africa. The original aimof the company was to trade and brokeagricultural produce on the local market.Soon government restrictions in local trademade the company focus on internationalmarkets, specifically the export of grain. Thisactivity remained the principle activity of thecompany until the 1980s.From the early 1980s a series of poorsummer crops prompted a demand for theimport of products that were previouslyproduced locally, and the company startedimporting oilseeds, grains, oilcakes andvegetable oils. These activities have moreor less continued since then, with volumesfluctuating according to the size of the localcrops. During this period the company alsotargeted regional trade in Southern Africa,principally with Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambiaand the BLSN countries.From 1990 onwards the domestic marketopened up again, and the focus of thebusiness switched to re-establishing thecompany as a major domestic player in thegrain and oilseeds markets, at the sametime maintaining it’s position in the importmarket for oils and fats, especially palm andlauric oils from Malaysia and the soft-oilsfrom South America.The palm oil productsToday FR Waring offers the full range ofstandard palm products, and together withmajor Malaysian refiners we have introducedseveral tailor-made palm products to thismarket. The products imported have severaluses, and are often key ingredients in awide range of finished goods which includelaundry and toilet soaps, margarines, highspec bakery fats and shortenings, coffeecreamers as well as other specialty fats. Thepositive health and nutritional properties ofpalm oil for frying and cooking purposes, aswell as the versatile use of laurics in oleochemicalapplications make palm productsincreasingly popular with South Africanmanufacturers across the various palmprocessingindustries.Bow Chain calling Durban to discharge palm oil products for the account of FR Waring.with consumers demanding good qualitymaterials, at best market prices, shippedon time to meet their operational needs.To this end, the core relationships enjoyedby FR Waring, with first class suppliers ofpalm products and service providers, likeOdfjell, ensure that we offer a seamless andcompetitive door-to-door service. Warings intheir pursuit for service excellence remains acritical component of the supply chain forpalm imports to Southern Africa.Relationship with OdfjellThe relationship between Odfjell andWaring commenced more than ten yearsago, when Odfjell approached Warings tosee if by working together they could obtaina significant share of the palm and lauricoil freight business to Southern Africa fromMalaysia and Indonesia. A strong workingrelationship was established, which hasultimately resulted in both Odfjell andWarings becoming significant players withinRigging the shorelines for discharging theWaring cargoes.the markets they serve. The business ofsupplying palm products to any destinationaround the globe is fairly reliant on suitablefreight from source to destination. Thefreight component is especially important asships need to be fully compliant in all aspectsto handle the various grades of products.The South African MarketThe South African market has evolvedover the years to become competitive,Waring staff, from left: Derrick Francis,Rachelle Beukes, Christopher Berryodfjell quarterly 25