Welcome to the last October edition of our Global Logistics Update. The logistics industry continues to navigate through the landscape of potential disruptions and evolving trends. From ongoing labour disputes to fluctuations in freight rates and shifting supply chains, businesses around the world must remain agile to navigate these challenges.
South African Ports
Local ports continue to face port congestion and operational inefficiencies alongside the most recent windy weather conditions. Main ports including Durban, Coega and Cape Town are experiencing varying degrees of delays as follows:
We highlight in the images below, vessels currently at anchorage pending berth at our major ports, showing an increase outside Durban. Port congestion and delays have been reported with Durban at 13 days, Cape Town at 7 days and Coega at 3 days on average.
Transnet Anchorage Report 28th October 2024 for Durban – Vessel delays at anchorage.
These ongoing challenges are part of broader global shipping disruptions, with impacts on scheduling reliability, especially due to factors like global conflicts and weather. Old infrastructure and equipment inefficiencies have unfortunately also caused direct cost implications for the agricultural, tourism and economic development sectors.
Transnet slammed for requesting tariff increases for ‘doing nothing’
The Road Freight Association has slammed Transnet’s application for tariff increases of between 4.57% and 6.69% and disputes claims of a performance turnaround at the Durban Container Terminal Pier 2, the country’s largest container terminal.
Transnet sheds light on efforts to improve equipment failure
Component parts for 20 straddle carriers used at Durban Container Terminals (DCT) will be received by the end of November, Transnet has said in response to questions about nagging equipment inefficiencies at DCT Pier 2.
The questions were sent to the state-owned logistics utility to shed more light on the issue following Tuesday’s port update which said: “Despite our ongoing efforts, we are still experiencing low availability of straddle carriers, which is impacting our operations and your expectations.”
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/transnet-sheds-light-efforts-improve-equipment-failure
Global Port Statistics
Port Updates:
During the month of October, several significant events impacted the global port landscape such as labour strikes and negotiations in the US, natural disasters, vessel rerouting due to Red sea attacks and overall congestion in Canada, Europe, and South America.
Below we summarise berthing delays at major international ports.
Africa & Indian Ocean Islands: Vessel scheduling remains erratic at present resulting in multiple changes.
Angola – Berthing delays of 2 days experienced at Luanda Port
Tanzania – Berthing delays of 8 days experienced at Dar es Salaam port.
Kenya/Ghana/Nigeria/Senegal/Ivory Coast – Berthing delays of 1-3 days experienced at main ports
Mauritius/Mozambique/Namibia – Berthing delays have reduced to 1-2 days at main ports
Canada: Overall improvement in port performances
Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver – Berthing delays of 2-3 days experienced at these ports
US: Residual delays may occur with equipment upgrades at some ports across the US.
New York/New Jersey/Charleston – Vessel waiting time up to 3-4 days experienced at major ports.
Norfolk/Miami/Oakland/Port Everglades – Vessel waiting time is up to 2-4 days.
Houston/Savannah – Vessel waiting time is up to 4 days in Houston and 10 days in Savannah.
Los Angeles/Long Beach/Seattle – Vessel waiting time is up to 3 days.
Argentina/Brazil/Mexico – Berthing delays of 3-6 days experienced at main ports with 8 days reported at Veracruz port.
North West Continent, UK, Mediterranean:
Vessel schedule delays continue to impact the region.
Belgium/Germany/Netherlands – Berthing delays of 4 days experienced at major ports.
France/Italy/Sweden/Spain/Turkey – Berthing delays of 1-3 days experienced at major ports
UK – Berthing delays of 6 Days experienced at London Gateway Port. Ongoing disruptions expected
Indian Sub-Continent & Middle East: Capacity constraints continue
India –Berthing delays of 3 days experienced at Nhava Sheva and 2 days at Chennai port
UAE/Lebanon – Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Jebel Ali and Beirut port.
Sri Lanka – Berthing delay of 2 days experienced at Colombo Port, with ongoing delays due to transhipments and vessel schedule amendments.
APAC and Oceania:
Hong Kong/ Korea/ Nansha/Qingdao/Ningbo/Shekou/Xiamen/Vietnam/Taiwan– Berthing delays on average 2-3 days at main ports.
Malaysia/Shanghai– Berthing delays of 3-4 days experienced at main ports
Singapore – Berthing delay currently 1 day, Transhipments have expected delays of 2-3 weeks on FCL’s.
Asia: Shipping capacity remains strong despite global shocks – https://unctad.org/news/asia-shipping-capacity-remains-strong-despite-global-shocks
Supply chain processes are negatively affected when delays are experienced at transhipment ports. Shippers and consignees are provided with the option to choose between direct or transhipment services when possible – however, this is not always the case for many origins where transhipment services are the only option. The problem being experienced is that congestion at transhipment hubs results in lengthy delays impacting on the actual arrival time of the shipment at its destination. For a better understanding – the below graph shows the average number of days spent at 5 most significant transhipment hubs.
The data has been sourced from actual shipments in the last quarter (Q3 of 2024) showing that Singapore remains the most congested transhipment hub at present.
Freight rates will stay high next year – no respite for shippers, predicts Drewry
Some three million teu of new tonnage arriving next year will most likely be “more than offset” by further market disruption, ensuring no respite for embattled shippers, according to Drewry.
Global growth forecast remains steady
The short- and medium-term global growth forecast has remained just above the 3% mark, according to the International Monetary Fund’s October 2024 World Economic Outlook.
Highlighting the IMF’s findings in its Weekly Review, Bureau for Economic Research (BER) economists noted that the forecast had remained at 3.2% for both 2024 and 2025.
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/global-growth-forecast-remains-steady
Freight News
We understand the importance of staying up to date with the latest trends, challenges, and advancements in our industry and we wish to highlight just a few articles which you might find of interest.
Port of Cape Town remains a blight on booming apple and pear sector
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/port-cape-town-remains-blight-booming-apple-and-pear-sector
More cargo chaos at Chittagong Port as transport operators strike
MSC lauds Phillips for change-making efforts at Transnet
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/msc-lauds-phillips-change-making-efforts-transnet
Maersk expects profit hike on strong demand and Red Sea crisis
https://theloadstar.com/maersk-expects-profit-hike-on-strong-demand-and-red-sea-crisis/
Brics ‘a beacon of hope’ for Global South – Ramaphosa
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/brics-beacon-hope-global-south-ramaphosa
Carriers may have ‘overshot’ on capacity and will need to blank more sailings
https://theloadstar.com/carriers-may-have-overshot-on-capacity-and-will-need-to-blank-more-sailings/
African port developments have not boosted logistics
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/african-port-developments-have-not-boosted-logistics
Sources & References
Seatrade Maritime / Loadstar / Freight News / GoComet / Maersk / DHL / Transnet / WeFreight / Beacon / Reuters / MSC / AfricaPorts / Container Statistics / Flexport / SACO