Durban achieves record results GAVIN DU VENAGE DURBAN HAS experienced its busiest period during the last two months since the Suez Canal crisis in 1971, Portnet executive director Sipho Nyawo told a news conference last week.
A record number of 2014 vessels arrived in Durban over the past two months. Nyawo said this was an increase of up to 24% over the same period last year. Gross registered tonnage increased almost 27% over the same period last year.
This is a clear indication that larger vessels are calling on the port, he said.
Several other ports also showed a record number of vessel movements over the past two months, Nyawo said.
He said the increase in traffic had a significant impact on Portnet's financial results. Total income for April to July increased 18%, and net profit was up 20% to R516m over the same period last year.
This reflects our double barrelled success for increasing income while strenuously controlling costs, he said. I applaud labour and management for this productivity improvement and I am confident that sparkling results will be produced for the current financial year. He said the level of productivity supports Portnet's decision to almost double its capital expenditure from R416m in 1995 to R989m for the current financial year.
These levels of fixed investment are an indication that the economy is growing and promotes the growth employment and redistribution strategy of the government.
Nyawo said the increase in trade traffic was an indication that business pessimism at the general functioning of the economy was not warranted.
These figures represent a general confidence by the international community in our economy, in spite of what our business leaders are saying. Nyawo said Portnet was currently holding a strategic planning exercise that involved labour, business and government. Once it was completed, the exercise would produce a new strategic vision for Portnet.
Nyawo added that Johan Carse had been appointed acting port manager of Cape Town port to replace Neels Hubinger. Hubinger has taken over the reins of the Perishable Products Export Control Board.
Portnet executive manager of group finance Terence Naidoo said the record turnover helped Portnet to far exceed the group results of Transnet. He said the ports authority had become a jewel in the stable of Transnet.
