Durban volumes keep escalating

Terry Hutson THE DURBAN Container Terminal may rate pretty low in the popularity ranks with importers and exporters, but few can fail to be impressed with the volumes being handled month after month. During September the terminal once again broke all records when 98 335 containers were handled - that translates to 128 751 TEUs for those who prefer the more internationally accepted method. By comparison the highest number of TEUs recorded during 2002 was 119 316 in November and to date for the current calendar year DCT has already handled more than one million TEUs - 1 057 412, with a quarter of the year still to go. Of added significance is that the port doesn’t appear to have a ‘busy season’ any more - every month in 2003 so far has been in excess of 100 000 TEUs. Now if only those new cranes could arrive, maybe the productivity would match the volumes.