CONGESTION at cape Town harbour has resulted in ships waiting for up to 14 days for a berth, thus threatening South Africa's vital fruit exports, reports the Cape Town Argus.
The provincial government's hopes of economic recovery, which had been pinned on the export market to boost economic growth in the wake of a slump in the tourism sector following the pandemic, have been undermined, with some industries looking to make a beeline for the country's other ports.
State-owned transport conglomerate Transnet claims bad weather, the public holidays, the city's power outage and staff absenteeism are to blame.
The provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism said all sectors were affected, but industries that were hardest hit included fruit, wine and frozen fish.
'Exporters have indicated that delays are adding 25 per cent to their logistics costs. It could be much worse if cargo is adversely affected by interruptions in cold-chain protocols,' said department spokesman Joe-Mark Arnold.
Goods worth more than ZAR136 billion (US$8.8 billion) were exported from the Western Cape last year. Agriculture, which accounted for 53 per cent of the nation's exports, saw goods sold totalling ZAR78 billion.
Transnet Port Terminals spokesman Sinenhlanhla Makhanya said they were working hard to resolve the issue. 'The terminal is working around the clock to clear the backlog.'
Mr Makhanya said the equipment available had been increased to 24 rubber-tyre gantry cranes, with 30 per cent of the fleet able to operate under windy conditions of up to 90km/h.
'Ship-to-shore crane availability has also improved after it dipped to five due to breakdowns. Currently, seven of the eight ship-to-shore cranes are in operation, with the outstanding crane due back this week,' he said.
The exporters said it was difficult to calculate the cost to the economy of the delays, but they could run to billions of rands.
Chairman of the Exporters Club Western Cape Terry Gale said the delays also came during the peak reefer season, when time-sensitive delays 'could not be entertained'.
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The provincial government's hopes of economic recovery, which had been pinned on the export market to boost economic growth in the wake of a slump in the tourism sector following the pandemic, have been undermined, with some industries looking to make a beeline for the country's other ports.
State-owned transport conglomerate Transnet claims bad weather, the public holidays, the city's power outage and staff absenteeism are to blame.
The provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism said all sectors were affected, but industries that were hardest hit included fruit, wine and frozen fish.
'Exporters have indicated that delays are adding 25 per cent to their logistics costs. It could be much worse if cargo is adversely affected by interruptions in cold-chain protocols,' said department spokesman Joe-Mark Arnold.
Goods worth more than ZAR136 billion (US$8.8 billion) were exported from the Western Cape last year. Agriculture, which accounted for 53 per cent of the nation's exports, saw goods sold totalling ZAR78 billion.
Transnet Port Terminals spokesman Sinenhlanhla Makhanya said they were working hard to resolve the issue. 'The terminal is working around the clock to clear the backlog.'
Mr Makhanya said the equipment available had been increased to 24 rubber-tyre gantry cranes, with 30 per cent of the fleet able to operate under windy conditions of up to 90km/h.
'Ship-to-shore crane availability has also improved after it dipped to five due to breakdowns. Currently, seven of the eight ship-to-shore cranes are in operation, with the outstanding crane due back this week,' he said.
The exporters said it was difficult to calculate the cost to the economy of the delays, but they could run to billions of rands.
Chairman of the Exporters Club Western Cape Terry Gale said the delays also came during the peak reefer season, when time-sensitive delays 'could not be entertained'.
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