Poor weather, frequent equipment failures and shortages, vessel ranging, and congestion events characterized port operations. Due to unfavourable weather, the Port of Cape Town lost almost 64 operational hours this week, while NCT sustained structural damage. This week, the port of Durban’s helicopter was grounded due to “EDU Snags”; a return time estimate has not yet been provided. Over the weekend, intermittent cable theft recurred, with the worst incidence causing nearly an eight-hour delay in line operations. Furthermore, according to the most recent information, four sets of shore tensioners are traveling to South Africa and should get there by the end of October. All of our national ports will receive an equal share of these shore tensioners.
Key Notes:
- An average of ~7 010 containers was handled per day, with ~7 945 containers projected for next week.
- Rail cargo handled out of Durban amounted to 2 371 containers for the week, ↓5% (w/w).
- Cross-border queue times were ↓0,1 hours (w/w), with transit times ↓1,7 hours (w/w); SA borders decreased by ~5 hours, averaging ~6,0 hours (↓44%); Other SADC borders averaged ~8,8 hours (↓11%).
- Global container capacity has been growing at an average rate of over 190 000 TEU/month since April.
- Global freight rates decreased by another ↓5,1% (or $75) to $1 404 per 40-ft container this week.
- Global air cargo is up by ↑1% (w/w) and ↑5% (2w/2w), with rates also up and trading around $2,32/kg.
Port operations – General:
- Port operations were defined by inclement weather conditions, frequent equipment breakdowns and shortages, vessel ranging, and congestion incidents.
- The Port of Cape Town lost approximately 64 operational hours this week due to adverse weather, while the same peril caused structural damage at NCT.
- The port of Durban’s helicopter went out of commission this week, sighting “EDU Snags”, with no estimated time of return communicated yet.
- Intermittent cable theft occurred again over the weekend, with the worst incident delaying operations on the affected line for about eight hours.
- Additionally, the latest reports suggest that four sets of shore tensioners are en route to South
Africa and will arrive towards the end of October. - These shore tensioners will be divided equally between a selection of our national ports.