State-owned port terminals’ performance indicates ‘full recovery’

IN the second week of October (week 28), Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) handled 100,158 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in a single week and 27,879 fully built units (FBU) in its automotive operation.

 Jabu Mdaki, chief executive at TPT, said, “The team has risen to the occasion, solidifying that the current 2025/2026 financial year ending in March 2026 is their defining moment of excellence.” TPT has broken 14 performance records in the last six months across loading rates; daily, weekly and annual container and automotive volumes; as well as train turnaround times. Some of the milestones were last seen 10 years ago, including exceeding the 100,000 TEU mark in a single week – which TPT has already achieved three times in the current financial year. The operator has also managed to close shortfall gaps in some categories, including magnetite and containers.   

According to Mdaki, improved performance can be tracked throughout the 16 terminals nationally and the four sectors that the business operates in, namely containers, bulk, breakbulk and automotive. The results are attributed to four main initiatives:

• Injection of new equipment including the nine rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes for the Durban Container Terminal Pier 1 and another nine for the Cape Town Container Terminal, 20 straddle carriers for the Durban Container Terminal Pier 2, a ship-to-shore crane for the Port Elizabeth Container Terminal, and over 200 haulers and trailers for all container terminals.
• Focused maintenance which resulted in reduced breakdowns and increased uptime of equipment.
• Process improvements.
• Various people management initiatives including the introduction of a fourth shift to ensure employee wellbeing for improved performance – and a new incentive scheme.

Year-on-year comparisons have seen terminals also improve productivity rates. In the container sector, the Cape Town Container Terminal has improved its ship working hours by 32%, while the Ngqura Container Terminal and Durban Container Terminal improved by 27% and 24%, respectively. The Port Elizabeth Container Terminal also recorded a ship working hour improvement of 16%, while the Durban Container Terminal Pier 1 recorded 14%.

In the automotive sector, loading rates at the East London Car Terminal peaked at 252 fully built units per hour in April and the Durban Car Terminal achieved its second highest performance ever in the week ended 31 August, when it handled 22,267 FBUs. In the bulk sector, the Richards Bay Bulk Terminal broke its magnetite loading rate record at 1,973 tons per hour in the month of June.

“The additional new monthly record of 477,119 TEUs and the highest ever recorded quarterly volume of 1,292 million TEUs is testament of our full recovery and our unity in motion,” said Mdaki.