The Ports Regulator of South Africa has approved a weighted average port tariff increase of 7.57% for the 2026/27 financial year.
This comes after Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) asked the regulator for a 9.61% annual hike over the next three years.
Ports Regulator CEO, Mukondeleli Johanna Mulaudzi, announced the Record of Decision on the NPA’s multi-year tariff application for 2026/27 to 2028/29 in Durban on Monday.
“The regulator applied the tariff methodology and tariff strategy to the application and determined that an appropriate revenue requirement for the authority to be R17.4bn – inclusive of Excess Tariff Increase Mitigation Capacity (ETIMC) of R800m – which translates to an overall weighted average tariff increase for the financial year 2026/27 of 7.57%,” said Mulaudzi.
The NPA had requested allowable revenue of R16.73 billion for 2026/27 with proposed ETIMC draw-downs of R1.196 billion in 2026/27, R1.276 billion in 2027/28 and an additional R153 million in 2028/29. This would equate to a 9.61% average hike across the three years. The Regulator rejected the bulk of this, capping ETIMC usage at R800 million for the first year only.
“The ETIMC remains a valuable regulatory tool to avoid excessive future tariff changes and allow the smoothing of unaffordable tariff spikes over multiple periods in the future. The Regulator continues to believe that the ETIMC should not be used to offset the inefficiencies of the authority,” said Mulaudzi.
“It must be noted that, without the ETIMC facility, the resultant tariff for 2026/27 would amount to 21.3%,” she said, underlining the extent of regulatory intervention.
Marine services and related tariffs (sections 1-8 of the Tariff Book, excluding cargo dues) will rise by 9.60%, while cargo dues are differentiated: containers face a 7.80% increase; break bulk and most dry bulk 8.10%-8.30%; coal and magnetite dry bulk 8.50%; liquid bulk 7.40%; automotive imports 8.10%; and automotive exports the lowest at 7.10%.
South African-flagged commercial vessels continue to enjoy a 30% discount on marine tariffs, while section 5 licence fees remain discounted by 30% and may still be paid in equal annual instalments.
The regulator again hammered the NPA on efficiency, imposing a R247 million claw-back under the Weighted Efficiency Gains from Operations metric.
“The regulator has again noted reports of continued deterioration of port performance caused by lack of refurbishment and investments in equipment by terminal operators… resulting in increased costs for shipping lines, cargo owners and ultimately South African consumers,” said Mulaudzi.
Significant adjustments were made to the NPA’s submission: inflation was reduced from 4.09% to National Treasury’s 3.70%; volume forecasts were revised upwards after six months of actual 2025/26 data showed overly pessimistic projections, and operating expenditure was reined in after the NPA attempted to inflate its 2025/26 operating expenditure from the previously approved R6.9 billion to R7.4 billion.
“The size of the change is excessive and contributes to a 20.6% increase in projected Opex over the two years from 2024/25 to 2026/27,” she said.
The regulator capped future increases at 4%-6%.
Mulaudzi said the regulator had adopted a “prudent approach” that balanced port sustainability with affordability in a constrained economy, while continuing to incentivise efficiency and investment.
The full Record of Decision is available on www.portsregulator.org
