... as Xmas volumes move smoothly through the port
IT HAS been a smooth and seamless pre-Christmas rush at the Port of Durban this year, according to Portnet marketing manager, Ronnie Holtshausen.
The stocking-up time of the year in SA is no longer the boom-crash scenario of former days. Everything's better spread, said Holtshausen.
We're no longer in the clutches of the trade euphoria surrounding the first democratic elections. JIT (just in time) inventory management is now commonplace. And we certainly don't have the congestion problem of last year when the introduction of the Cosmos computer system was a boom-crash all on its own.
But - despite the lack of furore - the container movement figures for Durban are still hitting record levels.
Portnet budgeted for 102 000 TEUs (twenty
foot equivalent units) in October, but hit new heights when 105 040 TEUs passed through the container terminal.
The forecast for November was just over 100 000. And, as Holtshausen extrapolates from a November 22 actual figure of 70 000, you come up with 99 600 TEUs now the projected total for the month. That would be marginally up on the 99 480 that passed through the terminal last November.
With Holtshausen's crystal ball running in hot form, we can therefore expect the 91 000 TEUs number-crunched by Portnet for December to be a fairly safe bet.
In January, Holtshausen predicts 89 700 - followed by the annual crash of 36 200 in February - but booming back up to 99 000 in March.
I'd forecast about 7% growth for sea trade next year, he told FTW, a figure that is now close to the global average growth trend. This on the basis of an expected 2.3% growth in the SA GDP (gross domestic product).
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