Japanese loan funds Transnet’s port and rail developments

In a major deal, Transnet and the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) have signed an untied loan agreement for about R4-billion – as part of funding Transnet’s R80-bn capital investment programme. One immediate target for part of the loan monies is to reimburse the amount already spent on the widening and deepening of the entrance to the Durban harbour, with the rest destined for the remaining cost of completing the project. It’s a vital project in Transnet’s development programme – primarily intended to accommodate larger vessels in Africa’s busiest and largest port. It includes dredging to deepen the new, wider entrance channel, which will improve navigation for vessels using the port and accommodate larger vessels of the post-Panamax and super post-Panamax categories. The project is to be completed by March next year. Transnet spokesman, John Dludlu, listed the benefits of the exercise. It will include significant improvement in safety standards, he told FTW. “The increased availability of the channel will reduce waiting times for vessels – enabling shipping lines to reduce their tariffs for cargo to and from Durban. This will lower the cost of doing business.” He also stressed that the deployment of larger vessels would allow operators to achieve economies of scale, and that the big ships would enable the Port of Durban to accommodate the projected growth in container volumes. “It will help Durban to develop as a hub port for the southern Africa region,” Dludlu said. The R80-bn five-year capex programme is aimed at revamping and extending Transnet’s rail, pipeline and port infrastructure network, according to Chris Wells, acting group CE. This, he told FTW, included buying a significant number of new and “like-new” locomotives for the rail freight division; building and expanding ports infrastructure; and building the new multiproduct pipeline between Durban and Gauteng. This is to replace the existing pipeline – which is now more than 40-years old – and significantly increase pipeline capacity.