A recent directive ordering several Chinese ports to cut container handling fees over anti-trust violations had many local industry players wondering whether the same principle could be applied in South Africa. China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) ordered Shanghai, Tianjin Port, Ningbo Zhoushan and Qingdao to cut container handling fees from 2018 by 10 to 20%. Some 39 ports were told to rectify irregularities, which included charging excessive cargo handling fees for export cargo. But South Africa will never take its ports to task, according to various industry role-players. Industry stalwart Mike Walwyn said he did not believe that this would ever happen in South Africa. “The port authority is regulated and the tariff is eventually determined by the National Ports Regulator. We should bear in mind that the Regulator has already intervened by cutting export cargo dues tariffs substantially a few years ago.” Port tariffs have been a point of contention in South Africa for several years with the ports at one stage being considered the most expensive in the world.
