South African traders are continuing to feel the impact of Covid-19 on the container trade, with freight rates having reached record highs – and with no end in sight.According to Mike Walwyn, operations director at Nexlog, the underlying causes are complex, and whilst the higher rates – in some instances up by as much as 400% – will peter out at some point, they’re not expected to return to pre-Covid levels.“With anything up to 100 vessels waiting outside Long Beach in the US, and 40 outside the Port of Savannah, one can understand the problem slightly better,” he told Freight News, indicating that high demand and the need for Covid protocols at ports had created the perfect storm.With vessels delayed from entering ports, vessel scheduling has become a nightmare.“In South Africa, the situation is exacerbated by the slow turnaround times in our ports at present,” he explained. “Our problem locally is not so much that we have a shortage of containers, but rather the impact of slow vessel processing around our ports.”Increasingly, shipping lines are opting to bypass some South African ports. The congestion struggles at South Africa’s ports are no secret, with ongoing struggles with ageing equipment and breakdowns.According to Walwyn, these issues have been somewhat mitigated through the open and frank discussions between port users and Transnet, but he emphasises that in this environment, more than ever before, the need for efficiency in logistics operations cannot be overestimated.“It is imperative that we improve operations at our ports as that will certainly help the situation."
Automation a means of attracting staff
Labour remains one of the biggest challenges facing the packaging industry, according to a report by PMMI.The leading global trade association for the packaging and processing industries says issues around labour are an economy-wide trend, with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic playing havoc with human resources.It said this was the top response from a survey conducted recently with consumer packaging goods companies and original equipment manufacturers who said they were facing unprecedented labour shortages.The industry has further been impacted by the fact that consumer habits have changed significantly over the past two years. As e-commerce has exploded around the world and home delivery of all kinds of consumer products increased, demand for packaging containers has also boomed. According to reports, before the pandemic manufacturers were already exploring options to optimise product packaging for e-commerce rather than for brick-and-mortar operations. Experts now predict that producers in the near future will aim to optimise packaging for specific channels rather than the one-package-fits-all approach.Whilst the packaging industry is considered essential and saw very little restriction on operations, there have been labour issues as most operations have had to introduce new ways of working to make room for social distancing and other Covid protocols.“We believe the focus on staffing will last well beyond the current staff shortages being experienced,” reads the PMMI report. “Digging into the responses, we found many issues related to Covid-19. Managing growth in a tight labour market was a common problem."
