GAC Laser the Springboard Into Africa

Strongly positioned and equipped to service the export market into Africa, GAC Laser reports that approximately 46% of its services at its Gauteng branch is export based. Situated just 5 minutes away from O R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, the company is strongly positioned and equipped to service this market competitively both from an experience as well as an infrastructure point of view.

Simon Hayes, CEO of GAC Laser says, “Trading and exporting into Africa can be a minefield and it’s essentially all about managing the risk. Each country has its unique customs, banking, legislation and documentation requirements. Often the rules of trade change overnight and its not uncommon to have freight in the air en route to a destination just to be notified that an embargo has been announced on the specific cargo being shipped.”

With a growing number of exporters looking to the African continent for their growth, and many African countries requiring supply lines for all ranges of product, a significant increase in demand for air, sea and road freight is being felt. GAC Laser has had successes with performing, facilitating and completing the export process on behalf of several clients in the mining industry in Africa.

Hayes quotes a few examples as testimony to the company’s experience. “GAC Laser facilitated exports of an Australian owned concern in the diamond mines in Angola. Further north, the company serves Electro Winning, a copper refinery based in the copper belt area in Ndola, northern Zambia”. Hayes indicated that GAC Laser returns to South Africa with loads of product including natural resources of copper cobalt which is then re-exported to the raw material factories as far a field as China and South America.

The company also services the French-based Chryso Chemicals by sea freighting container loads (in flow bins and liquid bladders) of cement additive for use by customers including La Farge cement based in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

GAC Laser is a joint venture between the Gulf Agency Company and South African based company, Laser. The partnership combines GAC’s global network with Laser’s local expertise to provide professional international logistics services to the South African market. The combination of over 70 years of local expertise with the worldwide infrastructure and resources of GAC enables GAC Laser to offer a full suite of supply chain solutions to South African importers and exporters.

Services offered by GAC Laser include specialist clearing and forwarding, value-added warehousing operations, 24/7 customer support, flexible solutions, modern IT capabilities and compliance to international security standards.