Transnet’s Port Elizabeth Car Terminal has broken its own record by handling 24 142 fully built units in July, the highest ever in the history of the terminal and 93% above the planned monthly budget.
Transnet said in a statement on Monday that the terminal had hit record productivity while it was in the middle of a project to further boost capacity to handle higher volumes. It said the increase in transhipment volumes had been the greatest contributor to the high number of units handled. The volumes were attributed to car manufacturers Suzuki, TATA, Caterpillar and Volkswagen.
Managing executive at the Eastern Cape Terminals, Wandisa Vazi, said: “It’s a busy season and there are lots of vessels outside every terminal due to the global demand across varying sectors. This is when our complementary port system creates opportunities for vessels to drop cargo off in Port Elizabeth which will be picked up by another vessel later, destined for another terminal.”
The car terminal’s operational team averaged 200 units an hour against a target of 180 units an hour during the month of July, a key performance indicator that they exceeded by 11%. The capacity creation project currently in progress at the terminal will see an additional 3000 parking bays created at the end of September, bringing the terminal’s overall capacity to 8000. This capacity will increase the terminal’s throughput from 150 000 units to 280 000 units per annum.
“We have a responsibility to make our customers globally competitive by unlocking capacity and providing a reliable and efficient service. And that is what we are doing,” Vazi said.
