PPECB calls for urgent action over port inefficiency

South Africa’s perishable exports are putting growing pressure on the country’s logistics system, highlighting long-standing weaknesses in ports, rail and cold-chain infrastructure that are now affecting competitiveness. While global geopolitical instability and shifting trade routes are continuing to disrupt supply chains, it is domestic logistics performance that remains the primary challenge for perishable exporters. According to Vijan Chetty, general manager: coastal at the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB), despite the development of new cold storage facilities in Cape Town, Durban and Gqeberha over the past few years, helping to accommodate increased export volumes and improved handling capacity, delays at South African ports remain the single greatest threat to the industry. They are impacting turnaround times, increasing costs and undermining the reliability of the supply chain. “Operational inefficiencies at ports remain a growing concern. Wind delays and reduced productivity at the Port of Cape Town during the current table grape season forced exporters to divert containers to Gqeberha, resulting in increased logistics costs and added pressure on supply chains,” he said. “Rising logistics costs, compliance pressures and operational inefficiencies are becoming structural risks to the sector.” Persistent challenges include the availability of containers, limited cold-storage capacity during peak export seasons and ongoing congestion at the ports. In this context, the deterioration of rail infrastructure was particularly concerning, said Chetty. “A reliable and efficient rail network is now critical to sustaining increased export volumes, reducing road congestion, lowering costs and improving environmental and compliance outcomes.” Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has acknowledged the challenges, indicating that the move to allow private sector participants to operate on the network is expected to drive improvement. At least four private train operating companies are anticipated to be operational by the end of the year, after 11 were granted access to TFR slots. Chetty said South Africa needed to address logistics reliability to remain competitive, particularly in Asia, where alternative suppliers such as South America and Australia are aggressively expanding. “While Asian markets offer significant growth potential, limited and slow-moving market access agreements remain a key barrier to trade,” said Chetty. “Competitor countries with faster bilateral negotiations, more efficient port systems and integrated rail logistics are gaining ground. Southern Africa’s competitiveness will increasingly depend not only on production excellence but on systemic logistics reform and accelerated market access negotiations. Without improvements in port efficiency, cold-chain capacity and rail infrastructure, the region risks losing share in growth markets, despite strong demand for its perishables.” He said that, despite the challenges, positive developments were under way to improve logistics performance. “South African ports have made significant investments to improve terminal productivity and operational efficiency. In addition, strategic partnerships between Transnet Port Terminals and the private sector reflect a coordinated focus on managing development and expansion projects aimed at increasing capacity and supporting the country’s growing export volumes. The biggest opportunity for growth and improvement is within the South African port infrastructure.” According to Chetty, a combination of improved port infrastructure and effective collaboration will by far have the biggest impact on enhancing South Africa’s perishable export performance. “Historically, infrastructure improvements have not kept pace with the growth in logistical activities, creating bottlenecks and inefficiencies. Strengthening partnerships and collaboration among all industry players is therefore essential to reduce risk, improve operational effectiveness and increase efficiencies across the entire value chain,” he said. “Collaboration is not a ‘nice to have’ but will be the backbone of economic growth and resilience in the South African perishable industry.” LV