SA a top performer in World Bank survey

South Africa ranked 28th out of 155 countries in a recent World Bank survey of international freight forwarders, according to Transnet group chief executive Brian Molefe. This statistic, according to Molefe, made a mockery of “alarmist, careless and misleading” claims that the country had the most expensive ports in the world. Molefe said the survey found South Africa to be the best performing nation among middle-income countries, in addition to being credited with its ports performance being higher than average. “The average cost of exporting a 40-foot container from South Africa was US$907 versus an average of US$ 1 265 for upper middle-income countries and US$2241 average for sub- Saharan Africa,” he said. Addressing journalists at a media briefing recently amid speculation over splitting of Transnet’s rail infrastructure, Molefe said the key issue for South Africa and Transnet was lowering the total cost of logistics. “In this respect, recent research undertaken by Transnet identifies that ocean freight rates and surface transport costs are the two biggest drivers of direct supply chain cost for container supply chains, accounting for approximately 48% and 25% respectively of total costs while port costs account for 11% of direct costs,” Molefe added. “Transnet’s focus is on increasing the density of shipping connections in order to bring down the cost of container shipping for the country and the region. This is our principal reason for establishing Ngqura as a transhipment hub,” he said. Molefe admitted that the network infrastructure in South Africa required a total overhaul and massive extension of the capability and reach of networks. “South Africa is fortunate in that the ownership of the port, rail and pipeline networks remains firmly in control of the government. This means that any reform undertaken can benefit from prior experiences, avoid costly and longlasting mistakes and assist in leap-frogging stages of development so that a world class logistics network can be achieved within the shortest possible timeframe,” he said. Already, he said programmes to improve operational efficiency were bearing fruit with transit times for containers between Johannesburg and Durban reducing from 38 hours to 16 hours over the past three years. “We have improved export coal volumes from 935 000 tons a week to over 1.6 million tons per week, export iron ore is up to 1.1m, manganese from 2 million tons to 5 million tons per annum and export coal vial Maputo is up to 27 trains per week from 14 trains previously,” he said.