July 2021

30 July 2021 – A devastating cyber-attack at South Africa’s state-owned ports and freight-rail operator that hobbled trade at key container terminals led the company to declare its second force majeure this month. Transnet took the measure after a July 22 security breach that forced the company to manually process container shipments at affected ports. It covered the Port […]

29 July 2021 – The expiry of anti-dumping duties on imported potato chips was a concern not only for South Africa’s potato industry, but also for other industries threatened by dumped imports, said the FairPlay Movement. The founder of the not-for-profit trade movement, Francois Baird, said that immediately at risk was the potato industry, which

28 July 2021 – Ordinarily project cargo involves special planning around moving something unusually large, heavy, or quite sizeable, like a reactor for an industrial concern or a large pleasure boat for the well-heeled, lucky enough to sip sundowners on the Zambezi. But last week’s carnage in KwaZulu-Natal and the days-long closure of the N3,

26 July 2021 – Amid an abundant harvest, high agricultural commodity prices have been an ironic windfall for South African farmers, particularly the grain and oilseed growers. However, farmers should manage their portfolios well, as input costs have also been rising, namely: oil, herbicides, and fertilizer. Such higher costs have the potential to erode these

23 July 2021 – As most market commentators and economists anticipated, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 3.5% on Thursday. This follows the latest meeting of the MPC. Consequently, the prime commercial lending rate remains at a five-decade low of 7%.

22 July 2021 – The cost of freight containers, rental costs and shipping freight rates have increased as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, says container freight company Container Intermodal Trading (CIT) CEO and co-founder Kashief Schroeder. He adds that the price of shipping containers, however, needs to be adjusted as they are significantly undervalued as a trading commodity and it is positive that container factories are realising their worth in the global logistics market.

21 July 2021 – The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (Amie) has called for urgent intervention to fast-track imports through the Durban port. The association says the import food industry has lost 40 000 t of cold storage capacity and that significant volumes of raw material has been lost as a result of the past weeks’ unrest

20 July 2021- South Africa’s logistics sector will “undoubtedly” see the closure of some logistics businesses owing to the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng, says South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) chairperson and Savino Del Bene South Africa director Dr Juanita Maree. “Some businesses, especially small businesses working from load to load, might have already closed their doors.” She adds that the extended logistics sector accounts for roughly 12%