Questions and Replies

4.     The Western Cape Department of Agriculture is involved in export facilitation for animal and animal products through the programme Veterinary Services and conducts economic analysis of the trade environment through the programme Agricultural Economic Services. Through this interaction with industry, several observations were made. Indeed, there were also direct complaints from exporters of agricultural products about various constraints experienced when exporting.

The Port Manager implemented a policy of zero tolerance for marine delays since 2022. This has resulted in an improvement in the efficiency of marine operations.

There are three terminals in the port from where agricultural exports are shipped. Two of these terminals are operated by Transnet. The largest is the Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT) and the Cape Town Multipurpose Terminal (CTMPT) is smaller, but more sheltered against wind. The smallest is FPT, which is a private sector terminal.

Some of the complaints were that port equipment has not been replaced and the ageing fleet past their lifespan, consisting of a maximum of 24 RTG’s (Rubber tyre gantries) at the best times and is plagued by regular breakdowns impacting port productivity, both the loading of vessels and offloading of trucks. When new, the port had 32 RTG’s.

The two Transnet terminals have been significantly constrained in recent years by breakdowns, mainly because timeous maintenance were not done. However, rubber tyred gantries (RTG’s) that feed the ship to shore cranes, remain a critical constraint.

1. Nature of complaints

Most complaints surround the waiting time of trucks in the port to off load containers up to 8 hours. Furthermore, industry is unable to plan due to lack and/or insufficient communication from the port resulting in additional costs to the industry, especially after wind delays. Reefer containers off-power in the port resulting in cargo damage and the inability to claim from the port when shipped on a merchant haulage basis. Insurers are now reluctant to insure merchant haulage shipments. The 2022/2023 season experienced excessive wind delays during peak periods resulting in 16 vessel omissions, restricting access to Far East and Middle East markets or incurring trucking costs to Port Elizabeth or Durban. Lower productivity also contributes to omissions.

2. Current situation

1. Equipment replacement is expected in 2 phases, the earliest in Transnets’ 2023/2024 financial year.  However, funding must still go through the governance processes and any delay could be catastrophic to the industry. Procurement processes of port equipment must be expedited/escalated as a matter of urgency. Vessel productivity in 2010 was 22 moves per gantry per hour and shipping lines experience productivity as low as 8 moves per hour, exact numbers are not known as Transnet does not share this information based on contractual confidentiality with shipping lines, but has agreed to share high-level averages. International averages are between 20-24 moves per hour with high-performing ports that record up to 29 moves per hour per crane. In past years, truck drivers could move 5 loads per day which is now down to 2 loads per day resulting in larger players exiting the market and selling their fleet to owner-drivers. Overall, the container trucking industry is less viable, and some companies refuse to carry export cargo due to delays, overtime, and loss of income.

2. The 2022/2023 season volumes were 11% down year on year, which begs the question of what would happen if we saw full volumes and an increase next year. There is concern about capacity constraints in the planning departments and the optimal use of planning tools.

Weekly operational co-ordination platforms have been created between exporters, Transnet and Western Cape Government. The risk for perishable cargo emanating from RTG breakdowns is continuously raised during these engagements.