FTW pick: SA a very minor player in Greek tragedy

The Greek debacle has reached its heights, certainly threatening the fiscal foundation on which the Eurozone is based, but fortunately having minimal adverse impact on SA trade or other bi-national business.

According to Luke Doig, senior economist at Credit Guarantee Insurance Corporation (CGIC), the SA exposure to Greece is limited.

“Greece is a pretty small economy anyway. And I can’t see why it’s causing such a fuss. Unless it’s because the integrity of the Euro area is at stake.”

And the illustrative figures he produced to make his case on lack of SA impact are the trade numbers for calendar 2014.


To read the full FTW article, click here.
http://www.ftwonline.co.za/FTWeditions/2015/2158-10July2015/page2.html



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Major cocaine bust at OR Tambo
A bag containing cocaine with an estimated street value of R7 million has been seized at OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA), the SA Revenue Service (Sars) said on Tuesday.
"The 26.48kg of cocaine is believed to be amongst the biggest cocaine busts ever at ORTIA. The luggage and all its contents were inspected [on Monday] after the airline had failed to locate the owner of the bag," it said.

"During the compulsory inspection, Sars customs discovered 19 compressed blocks (wrapped in a brown tape) and 7 plastic bags containing a ‘cream colour’ substance. A drug test was administered on the substance and it tested positive for cocaine."
According to a tag on the bag, it was destined for London from South Africa.
"Experience gained from previous incidents suggests that the drugs could have originated from South America," Sars said.
"It is suspected that such shipments are brought into South Africa by one passenger then handed over to another passenger on an onward flight to Europe or Africa."
The cocaine was handed over to the police for further investigation.
Source: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/R7m-cocaine-bust-at-OR-Tambo-air…

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‘Massive’ cellular communications growth in SA could boost trade

The “massive increase” in cellular communications in South Africa over the past decade could boost the economy, according to the Institute for Race Relations (IRR).

Data cited by the IRR  in its latest Fast Facts report showed that the number of cellular subscriptions in the country had increased from 8.3 million in 2000 to 76.8 million in 2013, or by 822%. Over the same period the number of fixed-line telephone connections fell by 22%.

IRR analyst and head of research, Lerato Moloi, said: “Economic benefits relate to the cheaper and more effective access to goods and services, and South Africa's position as a leading tech industry in Africa.”
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Poland’s rising trade draws more carriers to port
New Asia-Europe service calls at Gdansk are a reaction to Poland’s status as the fastest growth market for the trade, said Drewry Maritime Research in its latest Container Insight Report.
The G6 Alliance (APL, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, MOL, NYK and OOCL) has announced that it will start calls at Gdansk in Poland on its Asia-Europe Loop 7 service, with the first call scheduled to arrive at the Baltic Sea port on August 10.
The maritime analyst commented that Poland’s rising importance in the container market was tied to increased usage of DCT Gdansk, a terminal facility that started operations in mid-2007, initially only for feeder services.
The long-term plan was always to try and make Gdansk a viable alternative to German and Benelux ports as a gateway for not only Poland, but also Central Europe and other markets such as Russia and Ukraine. A large rail terminal was also a carrot for carriers that wanted to reduce their CO2 emissions by reducing the road transport miles across the continent.
Drewry said Poland would inevitably increase its share of the Asia-Europe container trade and attract more deep-sea services as its economy outpaced other European Union nations. New infrastructure improvements such as DCT Gdansk T2 will help the country become a major rival to German and Benelux ports as a transhipment hub for Central Europe and beyond.

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TNPA’s digital management system makes headway

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has commenced the registration process for its long-awaited Integrated Port Management System (IPMS) which is scheduled to go live in the Port of Durban at the end of July.

TNPA began issuing registration instructions to external users such as vessel agents from 1 July.

IPMS is a web-based end-to end integrated system that will automate the operations of TNPA’s eight commercial ports. It provides near real-time access to the full range of operational information accessed centrally online.
Chief executive Richard Vallihu said: “Global ports are adopting ‘smartPORT’ concepts and the world is increasingly embracing digital technologies and data analytics to make sense of the information that we have around us. Gathering that information in the first place is a challenge.
“As TNPA we want to focus on ‘smart people ports’ with a focus on development, which is very important for us. We believe that the glue or the backbone of our entire port system is information systems, but in an integrated way, where we manage just about every input and output to make monitoring, tracking, evaluating and optimising a lot simpler,” he added.
Vallihu said the IPMS was benchmarked against Malaysian and Singaporean ports which are among the world’s most efficient.
“This is a first in Africa, where we integrate all the ports on a single platform and can integrate with just about every logistical system out there, including rail, road traffic, and obviously the vessels out in the port and at sea,” he said.
IPMS replaces manual processes that were used for monitoring marine operations, vessel traffic services and terminal performance. It is designed to integrate the logistics around vessel traffic services, marine and terminal operations and rail logistics and provide real time reporting capability across the port system.

The benefits of the system include:
• 24/7 access to port operational information
• Online submission of arrival notifications
• Online dry dock applications
• Online marine service requests
• Online supplementary service requests
• Visibility of the slot system
• Online vessel status
• System notifications via e-mail and short message system (SMS), online chat
• Operational reports
• Sharing of general ports information

TNPA said feedback had been positive following daily intensive training for internal and external users at the Maritime School of Excellence in Durban during June.