Break-bulk cargo movement through the Port of East London during 2007 showed 65% year-on-year growth over 2006.
This was the word from retiring Transnet Port Terminals Business Unit Executive Piet Klinkradt at a combined client/farewell function in a local beachfront restaurant. The executive said the improvement - 123 251 tons actual vs 204 500 anticipated - was primarily due to increased cement imports.
Klinkradt joined the old SAR&H after matriculating from Cambridge High School more than 40 years ago. He climbed the corporate ladder into a senior managerial position. En-route to the top he worked at various South African ports and the organisation's head office in Pretoria. The bulk of his service, however, was spent in East London where he was closely associated with the planning and development of the port's benchmark car terminal.
Klinkradt said despite the absence of export volumes while DaimlerChrysler South Africa were retooling, automotive volumes for 2007/8 were projected to be within 2% of the 2006/7 volumes. This translates into 48 540 units actual vs 47 717 units projected. This was attributed to an increase in imported unit.
The first shipment of new Mercedes-Benz W204 C-Class luxury cars (bound for the USA) left East London on 8 November, with further export shipments leaving the port every fortnight.
Bulk grain movement was up by a marginal 11.6% over 2006/7 volumes - 125 446 tons actual compared to a projected tonnage of 140 000 tons.
Container movement dropped by 12% - 37 151 actual vs 32 500 planned. Klinkradt ascribed the downturn to the decrease in automotive requirements whilst DCSA was gearing up for the new C-Class.
Reporting back on capital expenditure projects over the past 12 months, he said the resurfacing of the container stacking and S&T berth was completed earlier in the year at a cost of R24.1 million.
The R22m project to replace eight of the port's straddle carriers was on course after they had been brought by sea from Cape Town. All of the carriers should be fully operational soon.
A current capital expenditure programme of close on R3m was underway at the port's car terminal, said Klinkradt, adding that a decision by DCSA to ship all their vehicles via the roll-on-roll-off method had given rise to certain space constraints.
"To address some of the needs, work is in progress to incorporate the container packing area at the car terminal into actual vehicle storage area. Work will also begin shortly to incorporate the existing public parking space as an extension of the quayside area. At the same time the current quayside working area will also be extended," said Klinkradt, adding that roughly 1 000 shade-cloth-covered parking slots were also on the cards for completion next year.
Safety remained an ongoing project within the harbour with the car terminal being awarded Noscar status this year. East London retained top International Standards Organisation (ISO) accreditation, while the customer care service project showed positive results with an average satisfaction index of 3.6 on a four-point scale.