Ports: The Cape of congestion
Cape Town’s container terminal, which handles much of SA’s trade, has been bedevilled by delays and ageing infrastructure
Cape Town importers and exporters are suffering at the city’s port because of congestion, which first reared its head with the start of the pandemic but has intensified since December.During Transnet’s financial year ended March 2021, the port handled 374,640 containers used to export agricultural goods, citrus and deciduous fruit valued at almost R130m.Mike Walwyn, SA Association of Freight Forwarders maritime affairs director and Cape Town Port liaison forum chair, tells the FM that local importers and exporters have lost hundreds of millions of rands because of the congestion.Exporters Club Western Cape chair Terry Gale says that since the pandemic began in 2020, port congestion has been an issue because of the restrictions. "Covid [worsened] the situation because the lockdowns closed the port for two or three months. The government allowed only essential goods to pass through — everything else came to a halt."Walwyn says Covid also changed global shipping patterns radically. "Th...
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