Coal and iron ore exports helped to prop up South African export volumes at a time when Covid-19 had a ripple impact across the cargo spectrum, according to information Freight News has seen.
As a result of bearish demand on the bulk side, volume in general only fell by 6.7%, despite industry fears that the decrease in exports would be more severe.
However, on the container side of outbound shipping there was significant drag on the country’s overall cargo figures for 2020.
At the Port of Durban exports fell to 2 595 402 TEUs compared to 2 843 928 the previous year.
At the Port of Cape Town too, throughput was affected by coronavirus staffing issues and weather events, resulting in lower-than-expected exports, despite the country’s exceptionally strong performance in the citrus market.
December though heralded a determined economic bounce back, yielding an increase of 353 488 TEUs year-on-year (y-o-y).
Overall though there’s no getting around the impact of Covid and other disruptive elements on South Africa’s box yield, driving figures down from 4 682 000 to 4 075 000 y-o-y.
