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16 November 2021 – The supply chain and logistics markets are primarily following the pandemic trend, being drawn-out, and taking a lot longer than expected to recover, according to the 5 November edition of the Cargo Movement Update. It notes that, in the earlier stages, it had been anticipated that ongoing supply chain disruption would eventually self-correct by mid-2022. But most indicators now show that this situation will continue throughout next year, and meaningful recovery cannot be expected before 2023, thus extending the pressure on most role players active in this space. However, as is often the case, the exogenous factors will remain.
Concerning port operations this week, Durban port started very slowly due to gale force winds halting waterside and landside operations continuously on Monday and Tuesday. When the winds finally receded by Wednesday, the port had to work desperately to clear the backlog Changes to the truck booking system created problems for truckers as they could not commit to delivering or collecting containers in time to make vessel stacks.
Globally, the ocean economy continues to be characterised by port congestion and accompanying very low schedule reliability, equipment shortages (and lost capacity for South Africa), and elevated freight rates.
After last week’s strong volumes, South Africa’s international (↓6%) and domestic (↓15%) air cargo sectors registered slight declines in volume. Several problem areas have come to the industry’s attention, including congestion at the cargo terminals, changes in reporting, and ACSA’s proposed new “revenue related cargo operating model”. Source (SAAFF)