Container throughput at the country’s ports improved week-on-week from a daily average of 10 691 TEUs to 11 046, the latest Cargo Movement Update by the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) and Business Unity SA (Busa) reported.
Yet state-owned port and rail freight operator, Transnet, has reported that its performance remains severely hamstrung by equipment breakdowns.
A statement issued by Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), said: “The current supply of straddle carriers has been significantly impacted, not only by shortage of units but also by the adverse weather conditions that have compounded the issue.”
The Saaff/Busa update confirmed this. “Port operations were mainly constrained by poor weather conditions, congestion, and equipment breakdowns and shortages.
“Approximately 40 operational hours were lost in Cape Town this week due to adverse weather, while continuous equipment breakdowns and shortages, accompanied by adverse weather, ensured operational disruptions in Durban.”
TPT said: “These factors have disrupted our operations and have placed additional strain on the available equipment across all areas of operation.
“Our engineering team is actively addressing this issue with a focus on improving the operational capacity of the equipment in the oncoming weeks.”
However, a source at the Port of Durban has said the equipment TPT was using was a bit like driving a Chinese-made car.
“The initial input cost is easier on than pocket than other brands of, say, Germany, but then comes the spare parts shock: poor quality if it’s available.”
The industry insider, who spoke to Freight News on condition of anonymity, said TPT’s equipment capacity would not be in constant duress if the logistics utility had invested in better assets.
However, he had it on good authority that when port officials took up the matter with the relevant executive authorities at ministerial level, they were told that China was South Africa’s biggest trading partner, so asset acquisition must have a Chinese flavour.
Earle Peters, the chief executive of Durban Terminals, said recently that Transnet was urgently looking into stepping up its engineering response to equipment breakdowns.
TPT said, while its equipment was on crutches, it was implementing additional support measures to alleviate pressure on current straddle carrier capacity.
These include extended quayside hauler usage and reach stacker operations for the back-of-port evacuation of imports.
