Dear Colleagues
With the Easter weekend behind us and the US – Iran 2-week ceasefire still holding (at time of going to press!), we are perhaps looking at a more positive trajectory!
When looking at the current status of the world, which changed fundamentally on 28th February, we can be thankful that we are living at the southernmost tip of Africa and are able to live in relative peace.
Yes, we have our problems, but we know what they are and this makes us resilient and a special breed of people!
The Western Cape has again proved its worth providing a safe passage for vessels to ‘by-pass’ the Cape (by-pass – we should be more welcoming as both False Bay & Table Bay can provide a safe haven for offshore bunkering facilities which can only be done in Algoa Bay currently)
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Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, has indicated this as such at the NTC, and this is one of the issues that need to be addressed when the Minister addresses EWC in the coming months.
The Middle East crisis has impacted our fruit exports to a large degree, as this region was home to 8% of our agricultural exports, fortunately (dare I use that term) the majority of the stone fruit had been shipped and the grape season was coming to an end, the concern now is citrus, which should start in week 18/19.
The current status is 113 Container vessels (390 000 TEU) are stranded in the Persian Gulf, with Jeddah which is used as a contingency port now experiencing congestion delays of 10 – 12days.
Closer to home, an interesting fact is that CTCT was closed for a total of 128 hours in March 2026 (equivalent of 5.3 days) compared to 231 hours of downtime in March 2025!
The port stats for week 14 (30th March – 05th April) as follows:
• CTCT : 17648 TEU handled 12192 target; 17 GCH 20 GCH target; 32.2 SWH 40 target; 31st March & 5th April 30 3061 & 3084 TEU handled respectively; 49% stack occupancy; 676 Rail moves
• CTMPT : 1711 TEU handled 1500 target;14 GCH 16 GCH target; 18 SWH 19 SWH target; 603 TEU handled on 2nd April; 40% utilization night shift
• FPT : Berth Occupancy 71%: 7 vessels handled: 5 multi-cargo; 1 Dry Bulk; 1 cement; 739 containers, 10381.71 mT Dry bulk; B/B Cement : 9322 MT; B/B General Cargo 8019 MT ; 2314 pallets fruit
• Fruit : 1% down from previous year: 30% increase to Far East; 30% increase to Russia
• Equipment: all new RTGs now fully operational; 8 of 9 STS; 49 hauliers
Please Note : Our April function has been finalized, so please diarize Tuesday 21st at the Sun Square Hotel in the CBD, with onsite parking available.
We will be celebrating the life of an industry stalwart, Brian Ingpen who kept us updated with all things maritime in his weekly Port Pourri feature in the Cape Times and the author of over 17 books, who will share some maritime secrets with us!
Our keynote address will be by Louis Niemand, Investment Director of Ninety-One providing insight into our current markets.
Invitations will be in your inbox shortly.
Keep exporting – the economy needs YOU!
Sincerely, yours in exporting
Terry
