This week and last week, operational challenges in and around South Africa’s commercial ports were defined by weather-related delays, ongoing equipment problems and shortages, technical difficulties, traffic jams, load-shedding, and roadshows. Berthing delays in Cape Town at the end of the week reached nine days, which is not encouraging for the port’s production as bad weather made an unwelcome comeback. The Durban marine fleet faced a few small difficulties this week because only three tugs were available when the waterside operations began on Wednesday. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, there were some electrical problems with the container corridor’s control room in Durban, which slowed down the flow of trains into and out of the city. Additionally, in the 24 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday, there were significant delays at South Africa’s commercial ports as a result of widespread NAVIS system difficulties. A few trading platforms, including OTC, were affected by intermittent ICT network difficulties, according to TNPA in Durban.
Key Notes:
- An average of ~8 073 containers was handled per day, with ~9 570 containers projected for next week.
- Rail cargo handled out of Durban amounted to 2 260 containers, ↓9% compared to last week.
Cross-border queue times were ↓9,9 hours (w/w), with transit times ↑3,2 hours (w/w); SA borders decreased by ~90 minutes, averaging ~10,5 hours; Other SADC borders averaged ~14,3 hours (↑40%). - Global trade transactions improved in Q2, but activity levels are 4 points below the expected range.
- Port congestion has further eased and is only affecting 5,7% (1,57 million TEU) of the global fleet.
- Global freight rates followed last week’s trend and shot up by ↑3,3% (or $49) to $1 537 per 40ft.
- Global air cargo demand increased slightly this week by ↑2% (w/w), with rates down to $2,29 per kg.
Port operations – General:
- Operational constraints in and around South Africa’s commercial ports this week and week were typified by delays resulting from adverse weather, persistent equipment breakdowns and shortages, system challenges, congestion, load-shedding, and roadshows.
- At the end of the week in Cape Town, berthing delays stretched up to nine days which does not represent good reading for the port’s productivity as adverse weather made an unwelcome return.
- The marine fleet in Durban experienced some minor challenges this week as the waterside started operations on Wednesday with just three tugs.
- The container corridor experienced some electrical issues in the control room in Durban between Tuesday and Wednesday, which impacted the movement of trains in and out of Durban.
- Additionally, South Africa’s commercial ports experienced widespread NAVIS system issues in the 24 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday, which caused extensive delays.
- TNPA in Durban also communicated that they were experiencing intermittent ICT network issues, impacting certain transactional platforms such as OTC.