Pressure for rail upgrade to Ngqura

There is growing pressure
on Transnet to increase
capacity on the rail links
serving the ports of
Ngqura and Port Elizabeth.
Ngqura is beating its
budget forecasts several
times over, according to
Siya Mhlaluka, terminal
executive manager of
Eastern Cape Terminals.
In the first few months
of operation, the port
handled 70 000 TEUs,
instead of the budgeted
50 000.
A target of 100 000
TEUs was set for the first
financial year, and the
port is “looking at” over
400 000 TEU.
Some 61% is transit
cargo.
Taking part in a media
briefing marking the first
year of Ngqura’s operation,
John Lawlor of MOL
Port Elizabeth said there
was concern about rail
capacity.
With Ngqura acting as
the hub port for the line’s
operations, it would be
necessary to move up to a
thousand containers at a
time from the reef.
Additional pressure will
be put on the rail line as
volumes of bulk exports
through the ports of Ngqura
and Port Elizabeth grow.
Port Elizabeth and
Ngqura port manager
Sanjay Govan confirmed
that the port authority
was in discussions with
Transnet Freight Rail,
and with exporters
and importers of bulk
commodities.
Negotiations are at a
“sensitive and delicate
stage,” and “we are
leveraging all our muscle
to attract new cargo,” he
said.
Acting Transnet Port
Terminals (TPT) CEO
Karl Socikwa welcomed
the “bullish” sentiment
of lines like MOL for
Ngqura, and said “Transnet
is aligned to that.”