Durban port should look into viability of transhipments

Transhipments at the Port of Durban take up far too much stack capacity in a congested port, and don’t pay anything like enough for it, according to Riad Khan, CEO of the SA Ports Regulator. “You can’t dump transhipments in a congested port,” he said, “especially where the price is not right.” At present, Khan noted that the storage rates (R491/month + VAT) were about in line with the global norm. “But it should be higher because where transhipments take up stack space for 10 days, it is very expensive.” The key question, he added, is: Is pricing appropriate? “When port stats are hitting 50-60% stack capacity (70% is the critical level, above which the port’s fluidity goes out of the window) we have to be careful how we price it where the transhipment cargo eats up a lot of the available capacity.” Transhipments, Khan’s figures showed, earned less than 1% of terminal revenue, yet effectively took up 40-50% of the stack space. “In a sense, Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) must be put in a position where they’re pricing in the strategic interests of the country,” he said. “In terms of infrastructure costs they’re not getting a decent return. “Taking up 50% of a congested port where capacity is at a premium, you can’t have very low prices. The current scenario is unsustainable in the long term.” Khan recommended that it would be in the interests of all cargo owners to think about this situation, and to inform the TNPA about what they think of it through the National Ports Consultative Committee (NPCC). INSERT: ‘TNPA must be put in a position where they’re pricing in the strategic interests of the country.’