Growth in total port volumes tapers off

TERRY HUTSON
WITH THE exception of Port Elizabeth there was a slowing of growth in total port volumes handled during the 2004 fiscal year just ended (March 31, 2005), according to statistics just released.
Container handling increased at the port of Durban by just 5.42%, although the Durban Container Terminal did well with an overall 14% increase – 1.601m TEUs compared with 1.405m in 2003/04. The discrepancy is a result of less boxes being handled at the MPT and Maydon Wharf areas.
Port Elizabeth’s increase in containers (340 144 compared with 282 865) was 20% and for Cape Town it was 18.9% (609 572 compared to
512 529).
Cape Town on the other hand had to contend with the highest percentage of empties - 26% of its total. This compared with 20% of empties at both Durban and Port Elizabeth.
Transhipments at Cape Town and Durban were each just under 18% of their total containers handled – 108 586 in the case of Cape Town and 300 228 for Durban, about the same percentages as the previous year. Tranships at Port Elizabeth were 40 486 boxes, or 12% of the port’s total.
The Durban car terminal demonstrated its worth during the year by handling a record 214 770 units during 2004, well above its original design limit. East London handled 58 428 units and Port Elizabeth 59 030.
But ports aren’t just about containers and cars – at least not yet. Richards Bay remains Africa’s leading port in terms of sheer volume – a fraction below 85 million tonnes of cargo, of which bulk made up 80Mt and breakbulk 4.7Mt. Not all the bulk cargo handled was coal exports – only 65.9Mt from 74.6Mt of bulk cargo exports consisted of SA’s largest export commodity, leaving the balance of 8.7Mt comprising other commodities.
Richards Bay also handled 4.78Mt of breakbulk cargo, almost the same as in 2003, indicating that this is becoming an important activity.
Saldanha also performed well, achieving a total of 32Mt of cargo handled, of which 30.7Mt was exports – about 26Mt iron ore exports with the balance being bulk imports including 427 000t of bulk transhipped and much of the balance being in oil products. Breakbulk cargo at Saldanha amounted to 1.3Mt, down from 1.7Mt in 2003.
Durban remains the country’s premier breakbulk port, handling 6.4Mt in 2004, which was however down from 6.8Mt the previous year.