Car carriers keep calling – despite slowdown

Lower vehicle exports and imports have not yet translated into fewer calls on South Africa by car carriers. According to the Transnet National Ports Authority statistics for January 2009, 29 vehicle carriers called on Durban in January this year – up from 24 in the same month last year. The trend is different down the coast – for East London, the figures are seven for 2009, compared to 9 in 2008, and Port Elizabeth also saw seven car carriers in January this year, compared to 10 in 2008. Overall, there were 44 calls by car carriers in January this year – one better than the 43 in 2008. More telling are the import figures for Port Elizabeth (28 374 tons in 2009 compared to 62 470 tons in 2008). A large percentage of Port Elizabeth imports are components for the auto industry. For Durban, the figures are 1 602 408 tons this year compared to 2 842 196 tons in 2008. Durban serves both Toyota South Africa and the Gauteng industry. East London saw a massive drop from 116 862 tons to 51 463 this year. Gross tonnage of exports through Durban went from 595 158 tons to 432 922 tons; in East London from 26 711 to 10 187 tons; and Port Elizabeth 358 266 to 86 978. There is no break-down of the automotive component, but demand has been affected by the falling car sales elsewhere in the world National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (Naacam) executive director Roger Pitot is calling for what is effectively a R10-billion loan to the components industry.