Interview of the week - CNC Freight - Malaysia

Patrick finished school in 1972 and started working in a local forwarding & shipping firm. In 1987, he joined Unimarine Forwarding & Shipping as a shareholder & company director. Unimarine was affected by the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 90's and went bankrupt.

He started CNC Freight Services Sdn Bhd in 1999 on his own. He is the Managing Director of CNC till present moment.

Tell us about CNC Freight. Who owns the company?

CNC Freight was established in 1999 by Patrick lee. It is a family owned business. We started from a humble beginning of 4 staff members with a rented office to where we are now. At the present moment we have a total staff strength of 25 people and most of them have been with us for more than 15 years.

Where are your offices located?

We are strategically located at Klang which is approx. 20 km away from the main seaport of Port Klang and approx. 40 km from the main airport of Kuala Lumpur International airport. We have an associate office which is located in Penang port.

What is CNC specialty and service range?

We specialize in project cargo forwarding which takes up about 60% of our turnover. General forwarding, predominantly sea-freight cargo, takes up the remaining portion. We provide a full range of services which include customs brokerage, airfreight, seafreight, ship chartering and aircraft chartering activities.

Tell us about projects you have handled recently.

With the recent decline in the oil/gas industry, most of our recent projects are related to agri-based sector, specifically the palm oil milling business. We ship complete door to door crude palm oil (CPO) mill equipment on a regular basis for two of our key customers. Each shipment is approx. 5000 to 6000 freight ton, either in single shipment or two shipments. Most of these CPO mills are located in remote locations in Indonesia and tugs / barges are often chartered by us for sea transportation. Recently we arranged a complete edible palm oil refining plant of 4000 cbm for one of our customers to Indonesia which involves several pieces of ODC and heavy-lifts.

During the hey days of the oil/gas between 2005-2013, we were actively involved in the following projects, out of which air-charters of AN-124 were involved in two of the projects namely Melut Basin & Diyarbekir.

• 2004-2005 – Melut Basin Oilfield Development Projects, Sudan
• 2005 – Tharjath Oilfield Development Projects, Sudan
• 2008-2010 – Onshore Gas Terminal Project, Turkmenistan
• 2009-2011 – Turkmenistan Block 1 Gas Development Project
• 2013 – Diyarbekir Oilfield Development Project, Turkmenistan

We were also involved in two hydro-electric power plants projects; Bakun HEP in Bintulu, Sarawak and Ulu Jelai HEP in Cameron Highland, Pahang.

Which are the main industries served in Malaysia?

We served the following industries in Malaysia.

• Oil / Gas
• Crude Palm Oil Mills & Edible CPO Refinery
• Hydro-Electric Power Plants

Which are the main ports used for service breakbulk projects in Malaysia?

As you may know, Malaysia comprises of West Malaysia which is a peninsula and East Malaysia on the northern part of Borneo.

In the peninsula (West Malaysia), Port Klang is the main port of breakbulk projects. Pasir Gudang on the Southern tip is just as important as there is the large RAPID petrochemical complex located nearby.

In East Malaysia, Bintulu is quite commonly used. It is a deep water port and well equipped with facilities to support breakbulk cargo.

Are there any particularities when conducting a project cargo planning and operation in your country?

Few aspects that one needs to pay attention to when carrying out a project in Malaysia.

• Import Restriction Goods (Customs Import Prohibition Order)
  One needs to be aware on the restriction of importation of certain steel materials and construction machinery, eg. cranes.
  We have a Construction & Industrial Development Board (CIDB) which is responsible for enforcing the standards required for steel materials used in construction and manufacturing. Non-compliance could result in the return of the imported materials back to its country of origin.
   
• Temporary Importation
  Temporary importation of construction equipment and machinery is allowed when such equipment cannot be sourced locally. Second hand equipment and machinery should not exceed 5 years. Security in the form of bank guarantee covering the amount of import duties involved is required.

Is special transport a competitive sector in Malaysia? How do you ensure that you will stand out?

Special transport is currently highly competitive in Malaysia with many players in the market. Being a small company, we believe that having experienced personnel, job knowledge and being able to respond quickly to our customers' requirements are our key strengths.

What made you join the industry?

I grew up in the port town of Port Klang. Most of the locals including myself ended up working either with the port or in the shipping industry.

I started my career in a local forwarding company / customs broker knowing nothing about the business. There was a lot to learn in the freight forwarding business especially when dealing with international trade. The company I worked in got involved in project cargo forwarding in the early 80's and this opened up another dimension of learning in handling over-dimensional and heavy-lift cargoes, as well as transporting of such goods to remote locations.

All this makes it very interesting and exciting. Since the day I started working till the present moment, spanning more than 45 years, I have never at all considered leaving this industry.

What do you like most about your business?

Meeting people and seeing new places. I find it also very stimulating and exciting to develop viable transport routes for heavylift / ODC cargo to extremely difficult destinations.

One of the most challenging proposals that we have ever worked on was routing such cargo by seafreight to the Black Sea and then barging up the Volga river to riverine port of Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan for onward transportation by road to site location. There were many risks involved such as weather and water level depth of river during certain season. All this had to be studied in detail and evaluated in order to come up with the best solution. Most unfortunately due to price, we did not win the business but the experience working on such a bid certainly enriched our project team’s skill
and knowledge. Of course, I must point out here on the importance of having the right partner in such market to guide and advise us.

Who should be approached in CNC Freight for inquiries?

Any enquiries can be forwarded to Mr.Lionel Lim at email: freight@cncfrht.com

He is our overseas network manager and the first point of contact for any enquiries from overseas partners.