Star 2023-11-21

MARITIME operators and fruit exporters have described as a “drastic situation” the delays experienced at the Port of Durban as an estimated 71 000 containers are stuck at sea on the back of operational inefficiencies. Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) yesterday admitted that it would take between seven and 15 weeks to clear all vessels from anchorage at both piers at the Port of Durban. The South African Association of Ship Operators and Agents (Saasoa) said some container carriers laden with Christmas stock have been at anchorage for days, even weeks, and there were no signs of the delays abating. Saasoa CEO Peter Besnard said they were doing everything possible in bringing the respective parties together to try and overcome the extreme problem that was prevailing. “Container-handling equipment at both…

TRANSNET board chairperson Andile Sangqu has detailed the challenges that have resulted in massive backlogs at the Port of Durban, and reiterated that it would take at least until mid 2025 to get Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) operating optimally. The troubled State-owned logistics enterprise is busy implementing the recovery plan which was approved by the board on October 14. Sangqu said the problem of port congestion was a complex one and was something that was bound to happen at some point, as a result of many years of underinvestment in equipment and its maintenance. Sanqgu said they were working on a number of measures to turn the situ- ation around, however, the success of those measures was predicated on securing necessary funding to plug the R50 billion infrastructure backlog.…

Some goods destined for the Christmas rush in the South African market may not reach the shelves as 63 vessels are anchored off the port TRANSNET has warned that it would take until around February or March 2024 to clear the backlog affecting the docking and offloading of container vessels that are clogged up at its Port of Durban as a short-term intervention. However, a long-term measure to get the port operating optimally will take until mid-2025 if Transnet manages to procure the necessary equipment. This means that some goods destined for the Christmas rush in the South African market may not be on the shelves as the troubled State-owned freight and rail company works around the clock to clear the 63 vessels at anchor off the Port of…

ASTRAL Foods’ headline earnings a share fell by a staggering 148% following R2.1 billion of load shedding, water disruption and bird flu costs, but investors’ eyes are likely to be on the way forward. Revenue for the integrated poultry producer remained stable at R19.3bn for the year to September 30, but the impact of these costs knocked operating profit by 143% to a loss of R621 million. There was a net cash outflow of R1.1bn. No dividend was declared. Smalltalkdaily Research analyst Anthony Clark said the results were “academic and historical”, but there were key questions about the current trading environment and the future that would affect the group and the share price. He said questions likely to be asked by investors in coming days would relate…

BARLOWORLD, whose cash holdings in sanctions-hit Russia have more than doubled to R1.2 billion, lifted per share headline earnings from continuing operations for the full year to the end of September by 5.5% to 1 156.3 cents on the back of a 14% surge in revenues. However, after accounting for disposed entities, group headline earnings per share in Barloworld for the same period softened by 27% to 1 291.4c. Shares in the company on the JSE closed marginally lower by 0.05% at R78.15 yesterday and are 8.81% lower in the past six months. Businesses with operations in Russia have been dented by negative sentiment as sanctions from Western countries mounted as a result of the country’s invasion of and war in Ukraine. For Barloworld, there has…

AFRICA, and specifically South Africa, needs to accelerate its vast potential of renewable energy to meet domestic energy market demands and deliver into international markets to fill the gap opened by Russia’s reduced supply to Europe, but it needs to act urgently to seize this opportunity, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). It said in its 2023 Africa Energy Review, released yesterday, that South Africa had the potential to be a hub for green hydrogen, with Sasol having produced the first green hydrogen from Sasolburg in June 2023 and anticipated exporting 0.1mtpa (metric tons per annum) with green corridors potential identified in areas including Mpumalanga and in the Northern Cape. PwC said the country and continent offered a wide range of energy sources and could both act as…