Transnet adds capacity for growing soya bean volumes

A new bulk terminal has recently been opened by Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) at the Port of Durban. The 20 000m², 80 000- tonne warehouse at TPT’s Agriport terminal on Maydon Wharf’s Croft Road was built specifically to meet increased demand for soya bean meal. The new bulk warehouse is one of the final touches on a project to increase the overall capacity of the 83-yearold Agriport multipurpose terminal. Since October 2008 Transnet has invested R140-million in the overall Agriport expansion. The soya bean product has become the number one forage crop on the international market, according to the terminal operators, and is primarily used as a protein supplement in the production of animal feeds. Johann Botha, TPT’s business unit executive at the Maydon Wharf terminal, said: “We looked at demand for grain products within SA, and our studies showed this was already very high. So much so that available resources in the country were struggling to meet the demand of the local agricultural community.” Local demand for soya beans – as elsewhere in Africa – outstrips production, and SA imported an average of 822 000-tonnes of soya products a year between 2000 and 2007. This was more than three times the volume of domestic production. Botha indicated that the product was also finding a new, growing market, and that there had been a significant increase in demand for soya beans as feedstock for biodiesel. With most of the country’s soya bean meal imports entering through the Port of Durban, TPT expects the terminal to handle 500 000-t in its first year of operation. This should increase to around 700 000-t as customer confidence in the new facility grows, with Botha adding that negotiations with more customers were already at an advanced stage. Initial cargo volumes will be imported from South American countries such as Brazil and Argentina, which have become major global players in agricultural exports and send large quantities of soya bean products, poultry meats, pork and beef to SA. The top five soya bean meal producers worldwide are the US, Brazil, China, Argentina and India.