BMW chief slates ‘excessive’ port charges

Some components are airfreighted to avoid costly wharfage Leonard Neill CHARGES AT South African ports exceed international norms by 250% and the issue of wharfage is a serious concern to both importers and exporters in this country, says BMW South Africa managing director Ian Robertson. “We have to use airfreight to transport leather and high tech components to and from our German headquarters, and we do so to avoid wharfage. This is complete nonsense and needs to be addressed,” he told a breakfast meeting of the Exporters Club of South Africa in Johannesburg last week. While the country’s port authorities need to be more consistent in meeting the requirements of the manufacturing industry and consequently the country’s economic needs, Spoornet is doing its best to meet current demands, although faced with a lack of sufficient rolling stock, he said. “The government appears to be fully aware of this situation in the comments that have emerged from its ranks. I like the approach taken by Transnet chairman Bongani Khumalo who says that Spoornet is not just a parastatal, but instead a business concern that must make money. The automotive component manufacturing sector is another cause for concern, he said. While they represent the biggest growth sector in the automobile industry’s export drive, many of their members are focusing only on the value of international currency in exports and pricing everything in US dollar terms. “They are therefore ignoring the needs of the local market in many instances where payment is made in local currency. The result is that we are forced to import some components, and that is a tragedy as it represents huge cost increases.” The auto industry as a whole however has obvious scope to extend its remarkable growth into the export market, he said. BMW itself could expand production in this country to around 60 000 export units from last year’s figure of 45 000, while the country as a whole could produce up to 200 000 export cars annually within the next few years. The growth in South African car manufacturing would, however, be constrained by the size of current manufacturing facilities and international competitiveness.