Weather conditions and all-too-frequent equipment failures were the main causes of operational delays at our ports. congestion, severe vessel range, and breakdowns and shortages. This week, vessel ranging operations predominated at the ports in the Eastern Cape, where more than 24 operational hours were lost. This was primarily because the Mooring Master system at berth D100 in the Port of Ngqura is still inoperable because five of its 11 units still need to be fixed. After a protracted outage, Irish technicians arrived to help with the repairs of crane QC 5 at DCT’s Pier 1. Due to ongoing development, the Bypass Road leading to the Durban port is still closed; however, it is hoped that the road will reopen over the weekend. Last but not least, there was a slight improvement in wire theft and rail system damage this week, with the most significant incident causing a four-hour delay in operations on Tuesday. The broader industry applauds Minister Gordhan’s references of several topics in the DPE budget address. The first of them is adding more locomotives to the fleet, the second is fixing the infrastructure, the third is combating cable theft and vandalism, and the fourth is digitising operations to enhance business processes and increase efficiencies. Positively, the conversation was expanded to include Transnet investing R122 billion over the following five years. It will be interesting to observe whether or not this occurs.
Key Notes:
- An average of ~7 855 containers were handled per day, with ~9 064 containers projected for next week.
- Rail cargo handled out of Durban amounted to 1 819 containers, ↑46% compared to last week.
The latest Ctrack “Transport Freight Index” increased by ↑1,4% in May (m/m) and is also ↑5,6% (y/y). - “Land Transport Survey” for March shows that the payload increased by ↑4,9% (y/y). Road/Rail at 87/13.
- Cross-border queue times were ↑0,3 hours, with transit times ↑15,9 hours, SA borders ~14 hours (↑12%).
- Average global container rates pierced the $1 700 barrier for the first time in three years (down by ↓2%).
- Global air cargo handled remains low despite increased capacity – average freight rates are $2,49/kg.
Port operations – General:
- Operational delays at our ports were shaped by adverse weather, all-too-frequent equipment breakdowns and shortages, severe vessel ranging, and congestion.
- Vessel ranging dominated operations at the Eastern Cape ports this week, as more than 24 operational hours were lost, which was primarily due to the fact that the Mooring Master system at the Port of Ngqura’s berth D100 remains out of commission as five of the 11 units still require repairs.
- Technicians from Ireland came to assist with the repairs of crane QC 5 at DCTs Pier 1 after being on a lengthy outage.
- The Bypass Road en route to the Durban port remains closed due to additional construction; however, the road is anticipated to be opened once more over the weekend.
- Lastly, cable theft and vandalism on the rail system improved somewhat this week, with the most notable incident delaying operations for around four hours on Tuesday.
- The extended industry welcomes the various mentions made by Minister Gordhan in the DPE budget address.
- These include (1) getting more locomotives into service, (2) repairing infrastructure, (3) tackling cable theft and vandalism, and (4) digitization of operations to improve business processes to boost efficiencies. And encouragingly, the talk was extended to Transnet investing R122 billion over the next five years. Whether this happens or not remains to be seen.