Coega container terminal is viable - study

Ed Richardson
An independent feasibility study has found that the proposed deep-water container terminal at the port of Ngqura outside Port Elizabeth would be viable even if there was no investment in the neighbouring Coega Industrial Development Zone.
The study, by Grahamstown-based Coastal and Environmental Services, states that in terms of a cost/benefit analysis, the Ngqura port is "economically weakly sustainable" without an industrial development zone (IDZ).
"If the IDZ is successful, the port will be an economically sustainable project," says the report. Coega Development Corporation (CDC) communications manager Raymond Hartle says the R800-million container terminal will probably be funded and run by the CDCÕs technology partner, P&O Nedlloyd.
Benefits of building the Ngqura port will be felt throughout the South African economy, according to the draft strategic assessment report.
It says savings to the economy include the lower costs of developing Coega compared with elsewhere in the country and savings on sea and land transport.
Shipowners operating out of Europe and the Americas will benefit by being able to turn around in Algoa Bay, which is nearly two daysÕ sailing closer than Durban.
"The results of the analysis show that the construction of the basic port infrastructure to provide a harbour at Coega and the development of a container terminal are economically justifiable as an alternative to the development of a container terminal at Richards Bay," says the report, which has been published for comment.
These savings will total between R12 billion and R19 billion over the next 20 years.