Copper boom puts a shine on consolidation volumes

ALAN PEAT OUTPUT IN the copper belt is booming, and boosting the cross-border consolidation business at SACD Freight's Johannesburg hub, according to regional director, Dennis Trotter. “The global demand and price for copper has gone sky-high,” he told FTW, “with an insatiable appetite in China for the metal in all its forms at the forefront.” This has seen the mines rapidly increasing turnover to meet the demand, and exports of the high-grade copper from Zambia and the lesser-grade from the DRC both crossing the border in very high volumes. This is added to the other sector of SACD’s consolidation business in agricultural exports from overborder suppliers – which has matured over recent years and already reached highvolume levels. “It’s business as usual in agri-exports,” said Trotter, “with tea and coffee being our two target markets. “Although the crop size is totally determined by the weather, and can fluctuate, both these agricultural products come over the border in big volumes every year.” All this incoming cargo is transported breakbulk, Trotter told FTW, because of the higher payload per truck available in this transport mode. But, he added, it is also rather dictated by the sheer lack of containers in the rest of the African continent. In the next part of its transit procedure, SACD builds up consolidation stocks of both minerals and agri-prods at its Johannesburg warehouse complex until a full consignment is ready. This is then containerised, the full documentation completed, and each consignment is railed down to the ship stack at the Port of Durban ready for export shipping. And SACD has a distinct preference for SA’s largest harbour, Trotter added, because of the high frequency of vessels, and the better turnaround times.