Value-adding opportunities for breakbulk cargo are being created in the port of Port Elizabeth following the award of the first concession by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) to a private operator in the harbour, Bidfreight Port Operations (BPO).
Jannie Roux, managing director of BPO, says sheds 10 and 11 on the breakbulk terminal will be modernised to handle a range of breakbulk cargo.
Freight being targeted by BPO includes fertiliser, rice, cement, sugar and other products which can be offloaded in bulk and processed or repackaged for sale in the Eastern Cape and further afield.
The initial target is 2.6 million tons a year.
Nozipho Mdawe, TNPA chief operating officer, says the breakbulk facility will open up opportunities for intra-African trade of bulk commodities.
The sheds front onto 400 metres of quayside with a draught of 9.5 metres, which means it can handle vessels of up to 50 000 tons, according to Rajesh Dana, manager of the port.
Loading and unloading will be via ships’ gear as there are no plans to invest in ship to shore gantries unless the volumes are sufficient to justify the investment, according to Dana.
Roux says there is a 10-year agreement to design, develop, finance, operate, maintain and transfer the two sheds, with an option for a further five years.
According to Mdawe, BPO was identified as the preferred bidder in 2017 after an open public tender process.
It is one of the first so-called “Section 56” of the National Ports Act for the Eastern Cape.
The clause empowers TNPA to sign terminal operator agreements with private-sector companies in order to reduce the cost of doing business and improve the competitiveness of South African companies, she says.
Negotiations lasted much of the year, with BPO starting work on the sheds in November 2018. The facility is expected to be fully operational by September 2019, according to Roux.
-Ed Richardson
