April 13 - Despite a torrential downpour and thunderstorms, the Intermodal South America trade show was an unqualified success and the heavyflooding of roads in Sao Paulo did not prevent too many people from reaching the TransAmerica convention centre des
The fair, which is now into its 18th year attracted an official attendance of 45,451, and a one-day record of more than 20,000 was posted on Wednesday, the second day of the event, hosted by UBM Brazil .
Demir Lourenco, the executive director for Tecon Salvador container terminal, part of the diversified Wilson, Sonsshipping and logistics group, said: "It is the great forum for logistics in Brazil. I met during this fair three potential clients who are asking for a study to containerise the transportation of their cargo, and with this, improve its transit. Intermodal allows you to speak to around 100 clients in the same place. This is impossible to achieve in any other way."
Karin Mickenhagen, the managing partner for Deugro Brasil, the project forwarding specialists, told HLPFI: "It is a great event and you can meet a lot of potential and actual business clients. Brazil still has a lot of infrastructural improvements to come in the next few years and that is where we come in; helping with the logistics to get the equipment to those projects."
Mickenhagen said that Deugro Brasil has made rapid progress since opening for business four years ago and now has 700 clients and three offices. She told HLPFI that the expanding joint venture (with German outfit Deugro the majority shareholder) currently employs 22 in Brazil with more to be added by the end of this year.
One of the companies exhibiting at the event was Saraiva Equipamentos , the Recife based equipment supplier (especially for the wind power sector) and company president Ricardo Teixeira , said he hoped the company would find even more new business from the event. He said: "We are growing daily and the rate of growth is very good."
Intermodal South America is the second biggest logistics trade show in the world and also hosted a record number of stands, 550, and organisers say it will be even bigger next year.
Many exhibitors also commented this year that the "quality" of attendees was higher than in previous years with far fewer "free gift" seekers/students/junior members of workforce attending on the final day. Perhaps that was due to the poor weather.
