The recent South African transport workers’ strike which caused mayhem in the fresh produce export industry and exacerbated the normal peak season congestion in the port of Durban highlighted the need to develop alternative shipping solutions, according to an expert.
Delena Engelbrecht, managing director of GoReefers Logistics, one of South Africa’s leading logistics service providers has argued for some time that Maputo in Mozambique is a port which needs a new focus to aid the situation.
“Now GoReefers has implemented new shipping logistics which has not only proved that Maputo is a real alternative to shipping through the port of Durban, but that it also saves money for growers and exporters,” said Engelbrecht.
“GoReefers Logistics understands just how critical it is to have the most competitive cost chain. Recently, when the South African industry faced its biggest challenge in recent history in the form of the national transport workers’ strike, we provided solutions in the midst of the crisis in order to keep the exports flowing.”
According to Ms Engelbrecht one of these was to increase use of the port of Maputo in order to alleviate the critical congestion in the port of Durban. She added:“The strike in the container terminals, and possible disruption due to the FIFA Wold Cup finals, again confirms that chaos cost money. Congestion charges which were introduced as a result of the strike further exacerbated the problem for the South African industry.”
She says the South African industry can ill afford the pressure on its bottom line which is already suffering as a result of the world recession and the strength of the South African currency.
GoReefers is acutely aware of this and has again showed that solutions must be found to bring about greater efficiencies in the cost chain. It has not only stated this publicly, but has also proved that it can be done.
Sharon Cilliers, GoReefers’ executive responsible for marketing, said: “Innovation is the key to creating competitive cost chains and this is what has been shown by the Maputo solution,” says “By launching our new Back-to-Back store in Maputo, GoReefers has achieved significant savings for growers and exporters. More importantly, it has also proven that Go-Reefers have been right all along to promote developing the Maputo option.”
The South African Citrus Growers Association last week indicated that delays incurred in the port of Durban are costing the growers in the region of R72 million (£6.4m) a season. This is estimated to be based on a minimum of 12 hours delay per load (R3600 per load) and the fact that some 20,000 trucks enter the Durban port with citrus during the peak season.
