Logistics News Update – 1st September 2026

Welcome to another Logistics News Update. 

Today we welcome spring and this week we have summarised the key logistics news upfront so that you can quickly see what is happening, also the attached graphic generated overview. If you would like more detail on any of the developments, you can read the full update below.

This week’s logistics picture is focused on the growing risk across the full China to Durban journey, where origin weather disruption, Asian port congestion, transshipment uncertainty, Durban Gateway Terminal recovery and carrier schedule pressure are now overlapping. DGT is showing signs of improvement, with yard density reducing and import containers on hand easing, but the recovery remains uneven, especially around vessel delays, reefer pressure, truck bookings, and container evacuation. This is now affecting both import and export planning, with citrus exporters facing cold chain risk through Durban and importers needing to look carefully at routing, Singapore or other transshipment connections, onward vessels and realistic delivery windows before confirming time-sensitive cargo. Global conditions are also adding pressure, with more than 4.3 million TEUs caught in port congestion, Drewry’s World Container Index easing only slightly to US$4 473 per 40ft container and Intra-Asia rates rising sharply. The key message this week is that a freight rate and sailing date are no longer enough, every shipment needs to be managed against the full journey.

Agri & Transport Summary

DGT congestion hits citrus exports: The impact of Durban Gateway Terminal congestion has moved beyond container statistics and is now affecting South Africa’s export supply chain, particularly temperature-sensitive citrus cargo moving through Durban during the peak export period. Freight News reported that trucks carrying reefer containers experienced waits of up to 30 hours to deliver citrus into DGT. Industry sources also claimed that some fruit had deteriorated after extended periods without refrigeration and was subsequently rejected for export. These quality-loss reports should be treated as stakeholder claims and not yet as an independently quantified industry-wide loss, but they show how quickly terminal delays can become a cold chain and commercial risk.

DGT has been working to clear the backlog after the NAVIS system switch, with temporary measures including pauses around reefer acceptance while existing reefer stock was loaded onto vessels and import evacuation was prioritised to create yard capacity. ECR reported that DGT was prioritising import cargo evacuation, reviewing truck-slot allocations every four hours and working with Transnet Freight Rail to secure additional train evacuations. The latest public updates show why the reefer position remains important. Freight News reported that DGT yard pressure had started easing, with the terminal advising that NAVIS N4 was stable and that the immediate focus had shifted to clearing the backlog, improving equipment availability, and restoring fluidity between waterside operations, the yard and landside evacuation.

For exporters of temperature-sensitive cargo, the practical risk is clear. A delay at the terminal gate, in the stack or before vessel loading can quickly move from an operational inconvenience into a quality, cost and customer-service problem. Citrus cargo depends on controlled temperature, reliable reefer acceptance, confirmed loading windows and short handover times between cold store, truck, terminal, and vessel. There is also a positive longer-term development for the citrus sector. India has approved additional fruit fly cold treatment options for fresh citrus exports from South Africa, following almost a decade of negotiations. CGA and the Department of Agriculture said the additional treatment options should improve fruit quality in the Indian market and add logistical flexibility for exporters.

The practical point is that market access and port execution must work together. Improved India access creates a future growth opportunity, but that opportunity still depends on reliable cold chain execution, carrier routing, port performance, vessel availability, and landed cost. For now, Durban’s reefer pressure remains the immediate operational issue for citrus exporters.

What to monitor: DGT reefer acceptance, truck waiting times, citrus quality claims, terminal stack occupancy, vessel loading windows, cold store handovers, reefer plug availability, carrier cut-offs, India cold treatment utilisation and whether DGT recovery improves enough to protect temperature-sensitive export cargo.

Logistics & Trade Headlines

• SAFLA and RFA propose 30-day DGT Recovery Compact: SAFLA and the Road Freight Association have proposed a five-point recovery programme for Durban Gateway Terminal, including a single daily recovery structure, a public 30-day performance dashboard, continued NAVIS Hypercare, equipment and yard stabilisation, coordinated truck appointments and fair commercial relief where delays are outside cargo owners’ control. The practical point for clients is that the conversation has now moved from identifying the problem to demanding measurable recovery and accountability.
• DGT yard pressure eases but recovery remains uneven: Freight News reported that DGT’s NAVIS N4 system is now stable and that the focus has shifted to clearing the backlog, improving equipment availability and restoring fluidity between waterside operations, the yard and landside evacuation. However, vessel delays and reefer congestion remain elevated, with 10 vessels waiting at anchorage on 26 August, seven of them for DGT.
• DGT congestion disrupts citrus exports: Freight News reported that severe DGT congestion disrupted citrus exports, with trucks carrying reefer containers reportedly waiting up to 30 hours to deliver into the terminal. This matters because terminal congestion is no longer only a container-delay issue. For reefer cargo, delays can quickly become cold chain, quality, customer-service, and export-rejection risk.
• Transporters escalate DGT and shipping-line concerns: Freight News reported that transporters have taken concerns about DGT and shipping lines to the Competition Commission, alleging that congestion and booking constraints are leaving them exposed to escalating storage, demurrage, and detention charges. This reinforces the commercial risk for cargo owners because unresolved terminal disruption can quickly become a dispute over who carries the cost of delays outside their control.
• Typhoon Saudel disrupts Shanghai and Ningbo operations: Typhoon Saudel disrupted parts of China’s eastern coastline during the week, adding pressure to already congested origin ports. Even though terminals have reopened, accumulated disruption at Shanghai and Ningbo still needs to be allowed for in origin planning, especially where shipments connect into South Africa services through Asian hubs.
• Drewry WCI eases slightly to US$4 473 per 40ft: Drewry’s World Container Index decreased 1% to US$4 473 per 40ft container on 27 August, driven by lower rates on the Transpacific and Asia-Europe routes. The reduction is small and should not be read as a clean easing of the market, especially while global congestion, blank sailings, port disruption, and carrier surcharges remain active.
• Blank sailings remain active despite returning capacity: Drewry’s latest Cancelled Sailings Tracker shows 45 blank sailings expected from week 36 to week 40, covering 31 August to 4 October, equal to a 6% cancellation rate across major East-West trades. Drewry says 94% of scheduled sailings are still expected to operate, but importers should continue checking confirmed sailings, space, and routing rather than relying only on published schedules.
• Intra-Asia rates rise to a three-year high: Drewry’s Intra-Asia Container Index rose 10% to US$1 199 per 40ft container on 27 August, reaching its highest level in three years. This matters for South African importers because congestion, feeder disruption, equipment positioning and schedule reliability at Asia origin can affect cargo before it connects onto the South Africa trade.
• Maersk import surcharge adds to landed-cost pressure: Freight News reported that Maersk will introduce a new emergency contingency surcharge affecting certain South Africa-bound cargo, with the headline cost impact reported at approximately R24 000. Importers should confirm the official Maersk advisory, origin scope, effective date, equipment type, and charge basis before approving landed costs.
• SARS implements provisional anti-dumping payments on Chinese coated steel:SARS confirmed provisional payments in relation to anti-dumping duties on certain painted, varnished, or plastic-coated flat-rolled iron or non-alloy steel from China, classifiable under subheadings 7210.70.20, 7210.70.30, 7210.70.40 and 7210.70.90, effective 28 August 2026. Importers of affected steel products need to check tariff classification, origin, provisional payment exposure, and landed cost before shipment.

What to monitor: 

DGT Recovery Compact implementation, NAVIS N4 stability, vessel delays at Durban, reefer acceptance, citrus export disruption, transporter cost disputes, Shanghai and Ningbo backlog after Typhoon Saudel, Drewry’s next WCI movement, blank sailing exposure, Maersk surcharge implementation, affected steel tariff lines and whether global congestion continues to affect space, routing and delivery reliability.

Let’s Learn, why the base freight rate is not the final freight cost

When cargo is booked from China to Durban through a transshipment hub such as Singapore, the shipment should not be treated as one simple movement from origin to destination. It is effectively made up of two linked vessel journeys, with a connection point in the middle. The first vessel must sail from the origin port, arrive at the transshipment hub, discharge the container, and make that container available for transfer. The second vessel must then accept the container, load it and continue the journey to Durban. If either leg is delayed, the full shipment timeline changes.

This matters because delays do not only happen at the port of loading or the port of discharge. A container can be delayed at the connection point if the first vessel arrives late, if the onward vessel is full, if the carrier changes the rotation, if the transshipment hub is congested or if cargo moving to a delayed destination port is not prioritised for onward movement. For South African importers, this is especially important when Durban Gateway Terminal is under pressure. A shipment may leave China, but that does not mean it is moving continuously to Durban. It may still sit at the transshipment hub waiting for the next confirmed connection.

Where businesses get caught

• Looking only at the advertised China to Durban transit time
• Assuming the transshipment connection is guaranteed
• Not asking which hub the cargo moves through
• Not confirming the planned onward vessel
• Not checking whether cargo is being rolled at the hub
• Promising delivery based on the first sailing date only
• Forgetting that delays at Durban can affect decisions made before the cargo reaches South Africa

Quick example

An importer books cargo from Ningbo to Durban via Singapore because the freight rate looks competitive and the advertised transit time appears acceptable. The container leaves Ningbo but arrives in Singapore after the planned connection has already been missed. The next Durban-bound vessel is delayed or full, so the container waits at the hub. From the importer’s side, the shipment has “sailed,” but it is not moving as planned. The delay then affects stock availability, production planning, customer delivery dates, and cash flow, even before the container reaches Durban.

Takeaway

A transshipment booking must be checked as a full routing, not only as a freight rate and sailing date. Before confirming a time-sensitive shipment, ask which hub is being used, what the planned onward vessel is, how much connection time is allowed, whether the connection is currently performing and what happens if the container misses that connection. Visibility at the transshipment point is now just as important as visibility at origin and destination.

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NEWS

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Port Operations Update:

• Durban  – 6 days
• Cape Town – 4 days
• Coega – 1 day
• Port Elizabeth – 1 day

South African port conditions remain uneven this week. Current GoComet data shows Durban at approximately 6 days, Cape Town at approximately 4 days, Coega at approximately 1 day and Port Elizabeth at approximately 1 day. These are public median congestion indicators and should not be treated as guaranteed waiting times for every vessel or container, because individual terminals, vessels, cargo types, and carrier schedules can perform materially differently. GoComet explains that its congestion index uses shipment tracking, AIS and port-event data and reflects median delay rather than a guarantee for a specific shipment. gocomet.com

Durban | 6 days:

Durban remains the main operational and commercial watch point, particularly because the issue at Durban Gateway Terminal is still a recovery situation rather than a fully normalised operation. Freight News reported on 27 August that DGT yard conditions had started to improve, with overall stack occupancy reducing from 89.2% on 25 August to 73.8% on 27 August and road import containers on hand reducing from 6 171 to 5 750. DGT also completed 1 811 gate moves in the latest reported 24-hour period, including 1 405 import movements. The improvement is positive, but it does not remove the risk. SAAFF noted that the recovery remains uneven, with reefer stack occupancy still at 110% and vessel delays still elevated. Freight News reported that 10 vessels were waiting at anchorage on 26 August, seven of which were destined for DGT and that by 27 August, four vessels were working alongside the terminal while nine remained at anchorage. DGT has confirmed that the NAVIS N4 system is stable, but that the backlog created after the implementation had not yet been fully cleared and that a return to normal fluidity would take time because of ongoing equipment availability constraints. DGT’s immediate priority is import evacuation, reducing yard congestion and progressively restoring terminal fluidity.

Cape Town | 4 days: 

Cape Town is currently showing an estimated congestion indicator of approximately 4 days, lower than last week’s 6-day indicator but still requiring close management. Cape Town remains sensitive to weather, vessel cut-offs, stack openings, and cold chain timing. Exporters should continue checking vessel schedules, terminal cut-offs, reefer planning, cold store handovers, and weather exposure before moving cargo to port.

Coega / Ngqura | 1 day: 

Coega is currently showing an estimated congestion indicator of approximately 1 day, an improvement from last week’s 3-day position. This is more manageable than Durban and Cape Town, but it should still be checked shipment by shipment. Vessel berthing, carrier schedules, stack timing, release status, and road transport availability should still be confirmed before committing to delivery or onward movement.

Port Elizabeth | 1 day: 

Port Elizabeth remains comparatively stable, with the latest public indicator at approximately 1 day. Even so, cargo owners should still confirm vessel-specific updates, carrier schedules, transhipment arrangements, and terminal readiness before relying on planned dates.

The practical message this week is that national indicators have improved outside Durban, but Durban Gateway Terminal still requires separate management. Yard density is moving in the right direction, yet reefer pressure, vessel waiting time, equipment availability and import evacuation remain the key risk areas. For import cargo, delivery commitments should not be made until the vessel position, terminal status, stack availability, release status, free days and transporter booking have been confirmed. For export and reefer cargo, terminal acceptance, plug availability, truck slots and confirmed vessel loading windows must be checked before dispatching cargo towards Durban.

What to monitor: Durban Gateway Terminal recovery, reefer stack occupancy, import evacuation, vessel anchorage, truck booking availability, equipment availability, Cape Town weather exposure, Coega vessel berthing, Port Elizabeth stability, carrier schedule changes and whether improving public indicators translate into actual shipment-level movement. Source:Adapted from GoComet South Africa Port Congestion Data

Key Highlights from Last Week’s Discussions – 23 August 2026
Source: BUSA, SAAFF, and global logistics data

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Port Operations

South African container terminals handled 84 435 TEUs during the week of 17 to 23 August, an increase of 1% from the previous week’s 83 471 TEUs. Average daily throughput increased to 12 062 TEUs. Terminal performance was mixed. Durban Gateway Terminal handled 26 162 TEUs, up 1% week on week. Durban Pier 1 handled 16 570 TEUs, up 16%. Cape Town Container Terminal handled 15 095 TEUs, down 1%. Ngqura handled 15 940 TEUs, down 5%and Port Elizabeth handled 5 080 TEUs, up 11%. The key point is that the national number improved only slightly, while Durban Gateway Terminal remained the main operational concern. DGT is showing signs of recovery, but the terminal is still working through the effects of the NAVIS N4 transition, yard pressure, equipment constraints, vessel delays, and landside evacuation challenges.

Key Insight: National container throughput improved marginally, but the recovery remains uneven. Durban Gateway Terminal still needs to be managed separately because a small increase in weekly TEUs does not mean terminal fluidity has normalised.

Rail and Inland Movement

Rail cargo handled out of Durban on the ConCor line was reported at only 781 containers, down 64% from the previous week’s 2 161 containers. This figure must be interpreted with caution because BUSA noted that DGT did not provide volume data for the reporting period. Even so, the decline remains important because rail weakness places additional pressure on road evacuation, transporter bookings, and terminal yard recovery. The ConCor shutdown from 25 August to 3 September also creates an additional landside risk while DGT is still trying to clear its backlog.

Key Insight: Rail remains a constraint in the Durban recovery picture. Where rail volumes are weak or unavailable, more pressure shifts to road transport, terminal bookings, and container dwell time.

Air Cargo

International air cargo through OR Tambo increased to 6 839 tonnes, up 2% week on week. Inbound volumes decreased 7%, while outbound volumes increased 16%. This shows that air cargo demand remains uneven across import and export flows, even though the total weekly number improved. Airport fuel stock levels were reported at approximately 6.3 days at OR Tambo, 4.3 days at Cape Town International and 12.4 days at Durban, all above the stated targets at the time of reporting.

Key Insight: Air cargo improved slightly overall, but the split between weaker inbound volumes and stronger outbound volumes shows that the market is not moving evenly. Fuel stock levels should still be monitored, especially after the recent Natref supply disruption.

Road and Border Crossings

Average South African border crossing times increased to approximately 9.6 hours, while the wider SADC region remained around 6.4 hours. At Lebombo, truck movements reduced to approximately 1 260 heavy goods vehicles per day, down 20% week on week. Average queue time was approximately 4.2 hours, while processing time was approximately 4.3 hours. Estimated indirect cross-border delay costs reduced approximately 10% to R526 million for the week.

Key Insight: Border delay costs improved, but operational pressure remains visible. Lower weekly cost does not remove the need to check route-specific delays, especially where cargo is moving through Lebombo, Beitbridge, Kasumbalesa or other high-volume regional corridors.

Global Shipping Context

BUSA / SAAFF noted that global port congestion remains a major capacity issue, with international reporting indicating that more than 4.3 million TEUs are caught in port congestion globally. This exceeds the absolute TEU queue recorded during the pandemic period in 2022, although the global fleet is now larger, meaning the percentage of capacity affected is below the pandemic peak. The main drivers remain weather disruption, vessel bunching, high yard utilisation, port delays, and landside constraints. East Asian weather disruption and congestion remain particularly relevant for South African importers because many China-origin shipments connect into South Africa services through regional Asian hubs.

Key Insight: Global shipping capacity cannot be judged only by the number of vessels in service. When millions of TEUs are delayed in congestion, effective capacity is reduced and schedule reliability becomes harder to manage.

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Strategic Outlook

The latest BUSA / SAAFF update shows a logistics environment that is improving in some areas but still fragile. Container throughput increased slightly, air cargo improved and cross-border delay costs reduced, but Durban Gateway Terminal remains the main local operational risk and rail movement out of Durban remains constrained. The key message is that national averages are useful but not enough. A 1% improvement in national container throughput does not automatically mean cargo is moving smoothly through Durban, through the stack or out of the terminal. The same applies to border costs and air cargo volumes, where the overall number can improve while specific corridors, directions or cargo types remain under pressure. For cargo owners, the practical approach is still to plan at shipment level. Each movement should be checked against the actual port, terminal, vessel, stack position, carrier release, transport booking, rail availability, border route, and final delivery commitment.

What to monitor: Durban Gateway Terminal recovery, rail movement out of Durban, ConCor shutdown impact, road evacuation pressure, OR Tambo fuel stock levels, Lebombo truck volumes, SA border crossing times, SADC corridor delays, global port congestion and whether the slight national throughput improvement translates into better shipment-level reliability.

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Global Freight Rates

Drewry’s latest World Container Index decreased 1% to US$4 473 per 40ft container on 27 August 2026, with Drewry attributing the decline to lower rates on the Transpacific and Asia-Europe trade routes. The reduction follows three consecutive weekly increases and shows that the global rate market has eased slightly, but not enough to remove the wider risk from congestion, blank sailings, surcharges, and schedule disruption. Blank sailings remain active across the major East-West trades. Drewry’s latest Cancelled Sailings Tracker shows 45 blank sailings expected from week 36 to week 40, covering 31 August to 4 October 2026. This represents a 6% cancellation rate, with 94% of scheduled sailings still expected to operate.

Intra-Asia rates moved sharply higher. Drewry’s Intra-Asia Container Index rose 10% to US$1 199 per 40ft container on 27 August, reaching a level Drewry describes as a three-year high. This is important for South African importers because many shipments from China and Asia depend on feeder services, hub connections, transshipment timing, and equipment availability before they connect onto the South Africa trade. The practical message this week is that a small decline in the global index should not be read as a clean easing of the market. Drewry does not measure South Africa directly in the WCI, but global pricing direction, Asia origin congestion, blank sailings, transshipment reliability, and carrier surcharge behaviour all influence the pricing environment for South African importers.

For China to Durban cargo, routing and space reliability may now be as important as the freight rate itself. A cheaper service that results in extended delays at origin, at the transshipment hub or at Durban can ultimately cost more through stock shortages, production disruption, storage, demurrage, detention, or missed customer commitments. Before approving customer pricing or landed costs, importers should confirm the carrier, sailing, loading date, rate validity, routing, transshipment hub, onward vessel, surcharge position, free time, equipment availability, and local charges.

What to monitor: Drewry’s next WCI movement, Asia-Europe rate pressure, Transpacific rate movement, Intra-Asia rate strength, blank sailing exposure, China and North Asian congestion, transshipment reliability, carrier surcharge behaviour and whether global congestion continues to affect space and schedule reliability. Source: Drewrey World

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Final Thoughts

This week’s update shows why a freight rate and a sailing date are only part of the shipment picture. China-origin cargo can currently face disruption at more than one point in the journey. Weather and congestion at origin, possible delays at the transshipment hub, vessel schedule changes and continued pressure at Durban Gateway Terminal can all affect the final delivery date. The risk is not only whether the container leaves China but also whether the full route performs from origin to destination.

For importers, this means the cheapest freight rate may not be the best commercial decision if the routing creates additional delay risk. A shipment that waits at origin, misses a transshipment connection, or sits at Durban can quickly create costs that were not visible on the original quote. Those costs may appear as stock shortages, production disruption, demurrage, detention, storage, truck standing time or missed customer commitments.

For exporters, particularly temperature-sensitive cargo such as citrus, the same principle applies. Terminal access, reefer acceptance, truck waiting time, plug availability and confirmed loading windows must be checked before cargo is moved towards port. A delay at the wrong point in the chain can become a quality issue, not only a timing issue.

The practical discipline is therefore clear. Before committing to a client, confirm the full routing, origin port position, transshipment hub, onward vessel, Durban terminal position, carrier release, free days, transporter booking, surcharge exposure and realistic delivery window.

Operational: Check the route, vessel, terminal, stack, release, and transport plan before promising delivery.

Commercial: Reconfirm the freight rate, surcharge position, validity, free time, local charges, and possible delay-cost exposure before approving landed cost.

Planning: Build contingency into China to Durban timelines, especially where cargo moves through a transshipment hub or where delivery dates are critical.

The businesses that manage this period well will be the ones that look beyond the first sailing. They will check the full journey, communicate early, and protect both service levels and margin before the shipment moves.

This week’s news was brought to you by:

FNB First Trade™ 360 — your partner in logistics and Exporters Western Cape