Poor weather, frequent equipment failures and shortages, delays, and congestion were notable occurrences in and around our commercial ports. More specifically, the reason Cape Town missed more than 40 hours this week was due to wind delays. The crane problem at Durban’s south quay, berth 108, was again brought up this week because all but one STS crane lost service on Tuesday owing to breakdowns. Additionally, throughout the course of the previous 24 hours leading up to Friday, the tug situation at Durban TNPA deteriorated, with only two available tugs from the evening shift remaining in the marine fleet. Additionally, TFR plans to reduce its 20 000 km freight rail network by at least 35% (7 000 km) and shift its focus to handling more profitable cargo on the main network lines. This comes after three incidents of cable theft on the Container Corridor line in the 24 hours preceding Friday raised some concerns among industry participants.
Key Notes :
- An average of ~6 779 containers was handled per day, with ~7 658 containers projected for next week.
- Rail cargo handled out of Durban amounted to 2 655 containers, ↑27% compared to last week.
Cross-border queue times were ↓0,5 hours, with transit times ↓5,1 hours, SA borders ~9 hours (↓8%). - Global logistics tensions moderated in January, falling to 0,95 standard deviations above its historical mean.
- Liner schedule reliability improved by ↑0,1% (m/m) to 56,6%, with average late arrivals at 5,43 days.
- Global freight rates break the $2 000 barrier, as the “WCI” is down by ↓2% ($37) to $1 997 per 40-ft.
- Global air cargo for the 2022 calendar year is ↓8% below 2021 levels and ↓1,6% below 2019 levels.
Port operations – General :
- Notable developments in and around our commercial ports included poor weather, frequent equipment breakdowns and shortages, delays, and congestion.
More specifically, wind delays were the root cause in Cape Town this week, as more than 40 hours were lost. - In addition, the crane situation at Durban’s south quay, berth 108, was revisited this week as all but one STS crane went out of commission due to breakdowns on Tuesday.
- Additionally, the tug situation at Durban TNPA took a turn for the worse over the 24 hours leading to Friday, with the marine fleet going down to only two available tugs from the evening shift.
- Furthermore, three incidents of cable theft on the Container Corridor line over the 24 hours leading to Friday have raised some concerns among industry participants, while TFR aims to shrink their 20 000 km freight rail network by at least ↓35% (7 000 km) and shift their focus to handling more profitable cargo on the main network lines.