Manganese exporters face severe port constraints

The South African manganese
industry will face capacity
constraints at the ports
between 2015 and 2017, before
the deep-sea port of Ngqura
is fully operational, Iain
Geldart, managing director at
Durban port operator, Bulk
Connections, warned delegates
at a Metal Bulletin conference
in Johannesburg recently.
He showed a slide
indicating capacity for
manganese at the Eastern Cape
port would increase from 2018
when manganese shipping
shifts from Port Elizabeth port
to the deep-sea port of Ngqura.
At the Durban port he
pegged capacity around 4
million tpy for manganese
if some capacity was taken
away from pellets or coal and
reallocated to manganese.
“This could increase
capacity sharply,” Geldart
noted.
However, he was worried
about the gap between
2015 and 2017 which would
probably be bigger than most
projections.
He told delegates that Bulk
Connections was doing what
it could to increase Durban
port’s capacity.
“Bulk Connections is
a substantial player in the
manganese market. We will
get bigger,” he said.
He added that the time for
public-private partnerships
was “absolutely” right.
“Transnet National Ports
Authority said it would tender
out all facilities,” he said. “The
platform has changed and we
will see a lot more publicprivate
partnerships in the near
future.”