A shot in the arm

These include the upgrades and expansion for the Durban Container Terminal Pier 1 and Pier 2, plus extra box handling capacity being created in the general purpose Maydon Wharf terminal and ro-ro area to give the port around 5m teu capacity by 2017.

TNPA’s plan for the country’s bulk sector includes the expansion of the iron ore bulk facility in Saldanha – it’s already been upped to 60m tonnes per annum and the new extension will grow this to 82m tpa: the transfer of manganese activity from Port Elizabeth to Ngqura will also help.

An investment of Rnd3.7bn has been set aside for the ageing Richards Bay Terminal to keep it running. It’s had virtually no investment over the last decade, so the fast tracking of input, including cranes, handling equipment and weighing decks into this year’s budget has been considered vital, along with safety, environmental and compliance projects. Further, the port will gain from around Rnd1.2bn that will be spent on capacity creating projects such as storage areas – and there is some thought going into how to restructure the port to gain space for bulk at the quay.

Further, there is to be a new ‘dug-out’ port on the site of the old airport in Durban, located on the old airport site, with – eventually – 16 container berths, five automotive berths and four bulk liquid berths. The port is aiming for 2.5m teu capacity initially, with the ability to handle 9.3m teu by completion.

However, you can’t ignore the large slice of trade of Africa’s traditional coaster traffic, and the recently opened Port of Ngqura is looking at a growth industry catering for both East and West African feeders.

Transnet has been building Ngqura port, which forms part of the Coega Industrial Development Zone, for the past 12 years – and to an extent it has been, predictably, a job-creation scheme as this is a place where work is inextricably linked with politics. It’s unsurprising that construction is still ongoing, with development to extend capacity to 2m teu by 2019 to meet, TNPA says, anticipated volumes. Ngqura will also be gaining bulk from the relocation of manganese capacity from Port Elizabeth (around 5.5m tonnes per annum) to two, newly created specialist berths by 2016.