Page 21 - Logistics News - August 2021

CTRACK FREIGHT TRANSPORT INDEX

Change on year ago: Ctrack Freight
Transport Index by sector

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 %

Air freight 86,6
Road freight 33,9

Freight Transport 26,4
Sea freight 24,3

Storage 19,5

Rail freight 6,5
Pipeline 1,9

Sectors % change on year ago

Ctrack & economists.co.za

SA container traffic faces when it must do manual loading and sorting
Since 2010, South African container throughput has due to factors such as a recent computer hack.
increased by 19 percent. A 19 percent improvement
in 11 years is a far performance from the overall The recent delays at the ports will have a further
SA economy, which only experienced an increase in negative effect on the road and rail freight sectors,
GDP of 3.6 percent over the same period, reveals the which will, in turn, have a negative effect on the
index. overall Ctrack Freight Transport as well as the South
African economy as a whole.
This growth is partly because containers are
becoming increasingly popular for the international While South African container throughput
transportation of goods as containers can easily be has grown admirably at 19 percent in the last 11
transported by various modes. years, this is well below the global average. Global
container throughput has increased by 52 percent
In the quarter ending in June, South African over the same period. Slow growth compared to the
ports handled over 13,000 TEUs a day. TEU global average indicates that exports from South
represents a twenty-foot equivalent unit, meaning Africa are not growing in volume at a satisfactory
that the actual number of containers could be far rate.
less with many containers these days of the forty-
foot size. Regardless, this still represents a figure of An additional contributing factor is that South
at least 6,500 containers a day. Africans have become poorer in real per capita
income. The country can no longer afford as many
More than half the total containers passing imports as was possible before 2014, and this has
through South Africa are handled by the port also had an impact on the throughput of containers.
of Durban, which moves approximately 4,150
containers per day. This equates to three containers Much of South Africa’s current good export
a minute that need to move in the port of Durban. performance is due to high commodity prices rather
than improved or more efficient production. “In L O GI S T I CS NEWS
While the numbers are impressive, it shows the other words, South Africa is slowly losing out on
serious problems Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) global opportunities,” says Jordt. •

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