Transnet is disputing the World Bank’s ranking of South African ports among the ‘worst in the world’ after the bank and S&P Global Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) for 2023 said that Cape Town’s port and the Port of Ngqura in the Eastern Cape were the worst-performing and least competitive ports for the 2023 period.
The state-owned logistics company said today that the development financier “incorrectly” used data such as a vessel’s stay at a terminal as a measure of inefficiency and also relied on third-party sample data.
Under its 2023 CPPI released last week, the World Bank ranked Cape Town’s port in last place of the 405 ports, while Durban ranked at 398. Ngqura (Coega) was ranked at 404 while Gqeberha was in position 391.
However, Transnet, which operates these container port terminals, denounced the rankings on Wednesday after a meeting with the World Bank early this week.
“The World Bank incorrectly uses the duration of a vessel’s stay as a measure of container port cargo handling performance, relied on third-party sample data and failed to give a measured terminal access to the data sample for verification prior to publication,” said Transnet in a statement.
It added that the World Bank’s “measurement of vessel stay in port does not take into consideration throughput and other factors that determine the duration” of a stay.
Transnet said these include the time taken by key role-players in servicing vessels covering actual loading and offloading of cargo.
Analysts have said that the stated desire by the MK Party to reverse privatisation of the Durban Container Terminal and the Richards Bay Terminal could drive away private sector involvement in the country’s ports sector.
BUSINESS REPORT