Reduced oil and gas activity squeezes CT port

There is little prospect of
growth at the Port of Cape
Town for
the year
ahead as the
challenges
of 2015
continue
into 2016,
according to
port manager
Sipho Nzuza.
“The
economic
downturn
that we have
seen across
the world,
coupled
with low
commodity
prices and the exchange
rate, has not been favourable
towards volumes,” Nzuza
told
FTW.
And it’s not only container
volumes that have been
negatively affected.
“The port has for some
years seen an increase in oil
rig activity.
More
and more
rigs were
berthing here
for repairs,
boosting
the port
and local
economy,”
he said.
“The port
consistently
serviced at
least two oil
rigs per year
and suddenly
in 2015 we
had none.
We are also not expecting
any in the coming year.”
He said with reduced oil
and gas activity – thanks
to the drop in the oil
price – the port had been
forced to revise its outlook
significantly.
“In 2015 we already had
to pull out all the stops
to curb the effect of the
global downswing in the
commodity market and
the influence of that on
international trade
moving through the port.
Thanks to the support of our
committed customer base
we managed to increase
our budgeted volumes for
containers by 3%, liquid
bulk by 62% and dry bulk
by 197%. We did not reach
our intended targets for
breakbulk.”
Nzuza said budgets for
2016 were being revised in
an effort to take the global
economic conditions into
effect.
“In 2012 when
Transnet’s Market Demand
Strategy was launched, we
were planning for a GDP
growth of 5.5% for the
future, but in 2015 we saw
this had dropped to 1.7%,
with 2016 expected to
grow at 1.3%. Going
forward with budgets
we have to anticipate
and plan taking the
global environment into
consideration.”
He said large-scale
growth in 2016 was unlikely
and performance was not
necessarily going to be what
was anticipated.
INSERT & CAPTION
When Transnet’s
Market Demand
Strategy was
launched, we were
planning around a
GDP growth of around
5.5% for the future.
– Sipho Nzuza
CAPTION
Oil rig in the port of Cape Town... none expected in the
coming year. Photo: Panoramio