There is no conformity between the various port operators in the region as to the capacity of their terminals and infrastructure. Much of the information is also out of date or due to be superseded by new capacity coming on stream.For the table alongside, Freight News has standardised on twenty foot equivalent containers (TEUs), with the ‘m’ standing for million.The breakbulk volumes are in tons per annum (t) and million tons per annum (mt). Grain or agricultural bulk is the storage capacity in the port system, in metric tons (t).Liquid bulk storage capacity is in million tons (mt) or tons (t). The vehicles are the annual capacity for handling fully built up units (FBUs). The information was gleaned from port authorities and international databases. According to the available information provided, Durban remains the largest port in the region in terms of capacity, at 3.6 million TEUs a year, according to published statistics researched by Freight News.Mombasa is the second-biggest, at 2.2 m TEUs a year, following investment in a second 450 000-TEU-a-year Japanese-built container terminal that started operating in 2022.Kenya’s second major port of Lamu has a capacity for 1.2 m TEUs a year.Durban also has the biggest dry cargo capacity, at 16 million tons (mt) a year, followed by Beira at 10mt. This excludes minerals and grain.With the majority of the region’s fuel being imported, all the ports have large liquid bulk storage facilities. Again, Durban is the largest at 19.5mt, followed by Mombasa at 13.2mt. There are no reliable figures on liquid bulk throughput. Vehicle handling capacity is also skewed by some ports which include vehicle handling under general cargo on ro-ro berths. Here, Durban is the biggest at 520 000 fully built up units a year, followed by Port Elizabeth at 280 000.Major investments are planned for a number of the ports, which will see Durban’s dominance being challenged as neighbouring ports attract traffic away from South Africa. ER
