Transnet adds capacity for growing soya bean volumes

A new bulk terminal has
recently been opened by
Transnet Port Terminals
(TPT) at the Port of Durban.
The 20 000m², 80 000-
tonne warehouse at TPT’s
Agriport terminal on
Maydon Wharf’s Croft Road
was built specifically to meet
increased demand for soya
bean meal.
The new bulk warehouse is
one of the final touches on a
project to increase the overall
capacity of the 83-yearold
Agriport multipurpose
terminal.
Since October 2008
Transnet has invested
R140-million in the overall
Agriport expansion.
The soya bean product
has become the number
one forage crop on the
international market,
according to the terminal
operators, and is primarily
used as a protein supplement
in the production of animal
feeds.
Johann Botha, TPT’s
business unit executive at
the Maydon Wharf terminal,
said: “We looked at demand
for grain products within
SA, and our studies showed
this was already very high.
So much so that available
resources in the country
were struggling to meet
the demand of the local
agricultural community.”
Local demand for soya
beans – as elsewhere
in Africa – outstrips
production, and SA imported
an average of 822 000-tonnes
of soya products a year
between 2000 and 2007.
This was more than three
times the volume of domestic
production.
Botha indicated that the
product was also finding
a new, growing market,
and that there had been
a significant increase in
demand for soya beans as
feedstock for biodiesel.
With most of the country’s
soya bean meal imports
entering through the Port
of Durban, TPT expects
the terminal to handle
500 000-t in its first year
of operation. This should
increase to around 700 000-t
as customer confidence
in the new facility grows,
with Botha adding that
negotiations with more
customers were already at an
advanced stage.
Initial cargo volumes will
be imported from South
American countries such
as Brazil and Argentina,
which have become major
global players in agricultural
exports and send large
quantities of soya bean
products, poultry meats, pork
and beef to SA. The top five
soya bean meal producers
worldwide are the US,
Brazil, China, Argentina and
India.