Western Cape realigns terminal business

18 Apr 2014 - by Liesl Venter

The realignment of
operations at ports in the
Western Cape has led to the
consolidation of the Port of
Cape Town’s container and
multipurpose terminals
as well as the iron ore and
multi-purpose terminals
(MPT) in Saldanha.
According to Velile Dube,
Transnet Port Terminals
(TPT) general manager for
the Western Cape region,
the amalgamation of the
terminals that came into
effect on April 1 is aimed at
lifting the struggling MPT
business.
“Notwithstanding all our
efforts to reignite our MPT
business, we have continued
to post losses for the last
three financial years. It is
now time that we take a
hard look at this business
and respond responsibly
to the real challenges that
confront it,” Dube told
FTW. “The realignment
of our business is targeted
at consolidating the gains
we have made in improved
operational performance
despite the difficult
economic conditions
confronting the South
African economy and the
industries we are serving.
It also positions our best
leaders to work on the
specific needs of each of our
customers and will provide
a platform for further
consolidation of our cost
base and exploit existing
synergies ever present in
our operation.”
Earlier this year Transnet
National Ports Authority
(TNPA) general manager for
strategy, Nico Walters, told
FTW that Transnet’s bulk
and breakbulk terminals
across the country were at
least 40% down on budget
and that this was a situation
not expected to change in
the near future.
Walters said this was a
concern for TNPA, referring
to the terminal performance
agreements signed with
operators upon the issuing
of terminal licences. He
intimated then that the
answer lay in putting
struggling terminals to use
for commodities doing well,
which is exactly what TPT
has done.
At the Port of Cape Town
the decision was taken to
merge the MPT with the
well-performing container
terminal (CTCT). The
merged terminals will now
be known as the Cape Town
Terminals (CTT) and will
be headed up by Brenda
Magqwaka, formerly the
terminal manager for
CTCT.
Robert
Van Rooyen,
the former
MPT
terminal
manager,
has been
appointed
terminal
manager for
what will
now be the
Saldanha
Terminals,
which
are the merged Iron Ore
terminal (IOT) and MPT
terminals at the Port of
Saldanha.
Dube said Adil Rodgers,
formerly the terminal
manager of the IOT, had
been appointed as regional
maintenance, asset and
projects manager.
“This is a newly created
position in light of the
anticipated increase in
capex spend during the
next two to three years at
the two ports. We believe
that this new position puts
us on a much stronger
platform to take care of
the new equipment and
buildings, which is what
Rodgers has been tasked
with.”
According to Dube,
the new
operating
structure will
enable TPT
to grow in
the Western
Cape.
“We
believe it
will facilitate
quality
customer
service by
increasingly
providing a common supply
chain for containers and
bulk products in between
our terminals. We also
believe that it will put a
much sharper focus on our
loss-making entities.”