Industry wants clarity on level of Transnet increases

Although the new tariff rates from Transnet take effect from April 1 each year, there is still a silence from the parastatal on what increase it’s looking for – and the shipping industry is getting a little anxious to know. The reason why industry needs clarity is because almost all of the industry’s annual rate increases are due to be applied at the start of each financial year (April 1 to March 31) – and planning its overall cost and price structures is no overnight exercise, according to Andrew Thomas, CEO of Ocean Africa Container Lines (OACL) and chairman of the SA Association of Ship Operators and Agents (Saasoa). “We are busy looking for Transnet to give us the increases as quickly as possible,” he said, “as freight rates need to be calculated for the year ahead. “We hope that we’ll get at least a month’s notice this year.” As this page went to print, Mboniso Sigonyela of Transnet was busy trying to get a dateline for the tariff increase announcement.