WILL WE see a diversion of containers from Durban to Cape Town following the lifting of the congestion surcharge by the Europe Southern Africa conference in all ports except Durban? (See page1) “For one or two boxes the couple of hundred dollars being saved might not make it a viable alternative,” said SAAFF Western Cape chairman Gavin Cooper. “But if someone is shifting ten boxes or upwards in each consignment, then it certainly would be real money.” However, he sees the saving of the surcharge in Cape Town (and PE) having very distinct benefits for local exporters particularly. “It’s especially applicable to low margin products,” Cooper told FTW. “Those where that extra US$100 could be the difference between making a profit or a loss - or could also make an export cost-competitive or not.” In the Cape he highlights perishables as amongst these low-margin exports. “It will be especially welcome on fruit because I’ve heard it has already hit fruit exports hard.” Nolene Lossau, executive director of the SA Shippers Council (SASC), hopes that vessel diversions will not become the order of the day. “Because we’d then see those ports overloaded and back to the worrying state of port congestion.” But her more official words were: “We welcome the decision, and look forward to Durban also being released from the surcharge shortly.”
