Decades-old plans and promises to move the manganese ore dump and terminal from the Port Elizabeth beach-front to Ngqura seem to once again be on hold as Transnet reroutes manganese ore through other ports in the region – including Lüderitz Bay.This is good news for road hauliers.Both road and rail are being used to transport millions of tons of manganese from the Northern Cape to Port Elizabeth to feed the dedicated 5.1-million- ton-a-year manganese terminal, as well as dockside operations at what was the citrus terminal and even at the main container terminal.Transnet Port Terminals has invested around R24 million in four Revolver R AM Spreaders that toss breakbulk manganese transported in open containers by road from an inland terminal set up in the defunct Port Elizabeth power station.This has added another 1.8 million tons a year to the capacity of what is now a dirty port abutting the city centre.Upgrades to the Port Elizabeth-Hotazel rail link have stalled while Transnet focuses on increasing the capacity on the Saldanha line, using 375-wagon trains.Road is therefore being used to supplement the Port Elizabeth rail line. Plans to build a new manganese terminal capable of handling 16 million tons at the port of Ngqura have been in the pipeline for over a decade, with Transnet continually extending the planned move.On February 6 Transnet project director Dr Rajan Chetty told the media that the Por t Elizabeth manganese operation was due to be transferred to Coega in 2023/24, but these deadlines have come and gone a number of times.A dysfunctional metro council has neither the ability nor the will to put political pressure on Transnet to move the terminal to allow for redevelopment of the port.The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber has its heart set on a waterfront. Instead of investing in the Eastern Cape, Transnet is using what chief customer officer Mike Fanucchi is quoted as saying “every available port” to export manganese.This has allowed Transnet to grow its capacity to 15 million tons a year from 5 million tonnes in 2012, at a fraction of the cost of building a dedicated new terminal at Ngqura, along with the necessary upgrades to the rail link with Hotazel in the Northern Cape.Transnet Freight Rail is also helping to carry manganese to Lüderitz Bay. It will not have much of an impact on the Port Elizabeth volumes as the target for Lüderitz Bay is 60 000 tons a month, a fraction of the Port Elizabeth capacity.Fanucchi is quoted as saying that Transnet expects to invest another R2.5bn to grow capacity to 18 million tons a year over the medium term.
INSERT: Every available port is being used to export manganese.– Mike Fanucchi
