Freight industry counts cost of floods
- Latest News
- Saturday, 15 January 2011
The Australian Federation of International Forwarders (AFIF) says international freight is being affected with the closure until further notice of the Port of Brisbane.
“This will affect both export and import movements,” said AFIF chairman, Paul Golland. “Even when open the problem of getting cargo to and from customers throughout Queensland will still exist as the road and rail infrastructure has all been badly damaged by the floods.
“The effects of the flooding will be felt for some time yet for international cargo into and out of Queensland”.
Golland said that in the short-term many AFIF members’ offices in Brisbane had shut and could remain so until next week as the floodwaters subside.
“In the short term, a lot of air cargo for Brisbane, which often trans-ships through Sydney due to frequency of flights, will be affected as the roads remain closed. Cargo will therefore have to move on direct Brisbane flights,” said Golland.
“This will cause additional problems for some forwarders importing from the US, as there are no freighter services directly into Brisbane. This means only passenger flights can be used and this will cause issues with unknown shipper status cargo being unable to move.
“We would expect space to become tight especially as priority will be given to relief equipment.”
The AFIF chief added that his members would be assisting in the movement of both domestic and international cargo into Brisbane, if called on. “We all have colleagues, family and friends in the affected areas and can only hope they are safe.”
