Ports handle less cargo in first four months

Alan Peat BOTH THE total tonnages of cargo and the number of containers passing through the SA harbours have fallen in the first four months of this year, compared to the same period in 2000. The tonnage fell by a mere half a percent, however, from 53 475 814-tons to 53 238 782-t. Number of boxes meantime - expressed in TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) - decreased by 12.6% to 602 651 TEUs for the first third of this year. Talking cargo totals, however, it is probably better to view the total for Òfull boxesÓ - which reads as a 15% decline to 465 967 TEUs. The tonnage of containerised cargo dropped by 17.5% to a total of 7 608 258-t. Of these container figures, deepsea traffic (imports and exports) contributed 348 062 TEUs - down 14.2% on last year. In tons carried, the deepsea import and export boxes totalled 6 374 602-t - some 17.5% down. This can be broken down further into imports and exports - where it can be noted that while both have declined this year, imports have decreased at a faster rate than exports. The 159 384 incoming ÒfullÓ deepsea TEUs in the first four months of the year was down by 21% on the same period last year. The total tonnage of containerised imports - at 3 358 014-t - was 22.6% down.The 188 678 TEUs shipped this year was down 7.5% - while the 3 016 588-t of cargo they contained was 11% down on last yearÕs total. Bulk cargo increased - a slim gain of 3.2% to a total tonnage of 38 357 101-t, of which SA export cargo amounted to over 36-million tons. This almost all from the more than 27-m tons exported from Richards Bay (mostly coal); and the 7.3-m tons of iron ore shipped out through Saldanha Bay. Breakbulak also fared better, but again only by a mere 2.5% to a 6 043 652-t total. Durban is still the main general port by a good couple of lengths - handling just under 9.8-m tons of cargo, and a total of 373 963 TEUs in the January-to-April period.