Container movement at South Africa’s port terminals continues to trend down for at least the second consecutive week, the latest Cargo Movement Update (CMU) has reported.
Whereas last week predominantly bad weather had forced down week-on-week (w-o-w) throughput from 7 036 containers per day to 6 747, causing a productivity decrease of about 4%, “another relatively low average” saw throughput dwindle further to 6 537 per day.
As has been the case w-o-w, “port operations were severely impacted by adverse weather conditions this week, accompanied by equipment breakdowns and shortages,” said the latest CMU compiled by the South African Association of Freight Forwarders and Business Unity SA.
The report adds: “Operations in Cape Town were severely disrupted this week due to strong winds, high swells, and vessel ranging, while inclement weather conditions accompanied by equipment breakdowns ensured operational delays in Durban.
“Over 50 operational hours were lost at our Eastern Cape ports due to adverse weather and crane breakdowns.”
At the Port of Richards Bay, where ore throughput improvements have alleviated tip-truck traffic on the N2, an uptick in traffic once again spilt over on to public roads, causing congestion.
Waiting time at the Port of Durban was bad enough for a container vessel, the Fayston Farms, to finally berth after waiting at anchor for about 26 days.
