Cape Argus E-dition

Transnet scrambles to unclog congestion at port

BULELWA PAYI bulelwa.payi@inl.co.za

DELAYS at the Cape Town harbour have had a ripple effect on supplies at some retailers as port authorities moves to clear the backlog.

Massmart, a retail and wholesale group that owns brands such as Makro, Game and Builder’s Warehouse, confirmed that it had experienced disruption in its supply chain, which had mostly affected large appliances.

The group, which imports some of its goods, said the disruptions included port delays, as well as shortage of steel in the country for local manufacturers.

One of the leading global freight forwarding and logistics companies, Kuehne + Nagel said with the current high market demand, there was an “inability” for the port to fulfil high capacity demands.

“This results in delays, whether future announced or as last-minute changes, impacting the pick up of containers or delivery of containers and resulting in delays for pick up and delivery,” said Gereon Niemeier, Managing Director for Kuehne+Nagel Southern Africa.

He said the overall impact on the supply chain as a result of the congestion and infrastructure challenges was substantial.

“For example, re-routing of a shipment to by-pass Cape Town Port to rather go via Coega or Durban Ports accrues additional transport costs for the customer, as well as additional charges for re-stow,” said Niemeier.

However, he added that this was the case for the automotive sector due to production time lines on assembly lines that required the parts on an urgent basis.

The company said other impacts to the importer could also be a delay of delivery for a special event, promotion, or product.

According to Niemeier at present the pick up of a container turnaround time was approximately four hours whereas delivery of a container time frame was slightly shorter due to the procedural appointment style for stacking.

“Our experience and data show us that our customers have not been impacted for more than a day, with the exception of one experience being far longer due to the cyber-attack experienced in late 2021,” he said.

“We improvised with solutions offering services such as sea to air and sea to truck to ensure that customers can still receive their shipments with a reduced delay period.”

Transnet said the terminal was making “headway” in clearing the backlog.

“Over the weekend alone, the Cape Town Container Terminal loaded over 3 000 refrigerated containers aboard two vessels destined for the European market, which have since sailed,” said Transnet Port Terminals Head of Corporate Affairs, Mbali Mathenjwa.

However, underwater currents disrupted terminal operations over a 48-hour period.

Mathenjwa said other measures that were taken included staff secondments from other terminals nationally to help speed up recovery.

Engineering expertise had also been deployed from other ports and Transnet operating divisions to look into equipment performance.

In addition the terminal had also increased the number of operational equipment.

“The terminal continues to plan with and give feedback to customers through regular communication channels daily in order to keep momentum of the deciduous fruit season, which is currently at its peak,” said Mathenjwa.

METRO

en-za

2022-01-23T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-23T08:00:00.0000000Z

http://capeargus.pressreader.com/article/281642488550817

African News Agency