Figures regarding volume handled by the Port of Mombasa apparently exceeding throughput at the Port of Durban have been refuted by industry insider and independent logistics publisher, Terry Hutson.
Commenting on a report posted on Monday (*) about the Port of Dar es Salaam bagging the lion’s share of exports from the Copperbelt, and in which reference was made to Kenya’s principal port surpassing Durban, Hutson said “Mombasa is far from being Africa’s biggest port”.
He added that Durban remained well ahead in terms of being a multipurpose port.
Last year, for example, the Kwazulu-Natal port had recorded 79.25 million tonnes, Hutson said.
He also mentioned the ports of Richards Bay and Saldanha – respectively recording 84.8 and 66 million tonnes of mostly bulk freight.
Hutson took issue with the relevant post published by Freight News, saying “your report neglected to factor in the container tonnages at Durban”.
The port’s non-container tonnage was 42.3 million, he said.
The statement, received from a source at the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations, that Mombasa’s throughput of 34 million tonnes was a million more than that of Durban, was also disputed.
That Durban only handled 33 million tonnes was an old figure, Hutson said.
