The main trade artery in and out of SA is fast grinding to a halt as all Gauteng container facilities are currently clogged up with full and empty boxes. And the problem is not so slowly also being transferred to the Durban end – which already has a post-strike backlog of boxes. “What do Gauteng shippers do now?” asked a shipping executive in Johannesburg. “Facilities at the inland port of City Deep and the private container depots cannot cope as the influx of 40-foot (12-metre) containers into Gauteng continues week by week.” The serious nature of this jam-up in the container supply chain in and out of SA has been confirmed by a large number of other FTW sources, who asked not to be named, many of them adding expletives to their complaints. But one who was quite happy to be quoted by name was David Williams, MD of the major sea carrier, Maersk Line. It’s caused by a major imbalance in incoming and outgoing boxes, he told FTW. “This because it’s leading up to SA’s peak import season, and more 40-fts are just pouring into the country – far faster than empty boxes can be moved out.” The City Deep situation is also putting paid to a lot of SA exporters’ activities. “The terminal is utterly congested, and closed for exports until August 14,” Roger Phillip of DAL told FTW. One of our other anonymous sources added that his shipping department estimated that City Deep was jammed up with 8 000 containers – when its rated capacity was believed to be 4 000-odd. “At this point in time (August 6),” he added, “they are not accepting any empties for rail out of Johannesburg, but are still having to accept incoming full boxes.” And, added Williams, all the lines are meeting with Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) to try to plan out a method of overcoming the problem. “But,” he said, “this is only aimed at the longterm solution, as there is just no short-term answer.” Another source agreed with TFR’s inability to provide an instant answer. “There is just a major shortage of wagons in the national railway network,” he said. “This is the tragic aftermath of the railways’ decision about 15 years ago to sell off what it said were then obsolete rolling stock just to get some cash in the books. The replacement rate has never kept up with the growth in traffic, and they are paying the serious price now of their inability to gauge the long-term needs.” There’s also no alternative in transporting empties by road to Durban for shipping to the Far East, where there is a totally short supply situation. FTW has been told that the shipping lines have thought of this road possibility. “But,” we were told, “we can’t get truckers to move the empties, as they are not going to take the lower rate they provide when there are plenty of full boxes going down.” And lines can’t justify paying a full rate for empties, because it would result in a lot of red numbers in their books. An impasse, and SA’s container movement at this vital time of the year is just about to come to a dead stop. And the other comments flowing in to FTW all confirm the same story. They include: • “City Deep is overfull.” • “Not getting rail movement to Durban.” • “Export stacks are not open.” • “Reduced wagons and locos – rumours that staff are on a go-slow.” • “Lines have shortshipped thousands of containers for intended vessels.” • “Used to have 8-10 trains a day. It was reduced to five trains a day even before the strike.” • “Things are falling apart.” • “City Deep has closed the door to export traffic for the next week.” • “Lines are telling customers, if you want to make the stacks in time, use road, not rail.”
