Lines offer rock-bottom rates to ship out empties

ALAN PEAT JUST UNDER 40% of the containers which leave SA shores for foreign parts are empty boxes being repositioned where refills are available. Of the 120 442 which were shipped out deepsea from SA’s port network in August, 47 349 were empty, equalling 64.78% of the 73 093 total of full containers. It also means that a considerable proportion of the 104 856 full containers which are shipped into SA are going out empty – and at a cost to the lines. This does have an advantage, according to Bruce Addison, MD of Zimco Aluminium. He told FTW that his company moves product to the Far East and that the rates are exceptionally low because lines are happy just to reposition the boxes. That compares SA to the likes of Chile, which he has found from his studies is a country that is exporting much more in containers because of the very same problem as here. “They, like us, have a lot of consumer goods coming in, but – instead of moving empty boxes out – they are now moving a lot of previously breakbulk cargo out in boxes. This, again like us, is mostly metals, but the cost of containerised shipment is so low that it now matches if not beats breakbulk prices.” Following that path would however only reduce SA’s breakbulk volumes, and would not serve the other vital purpose of reducing port congestion. “To do that,” said Addison, “what we need to do is take things a step further. SA needs to change its economic policies to encourage beneficiation and further local production – cut down on imports and export full containers rather than empties. “But, as long as our exports are mainly bulk and low-value goods, the result will be that we’re exporting a lot of empty boxes to be repositioned. And if we continue to increase imports at the current rate, all we’ll be doing is jamming up our ports in the process.”