Transnet commits to investment deadlines for Nelson Mandela Bay

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

Transnet announced on Friday that it would be investing around R9bn over the next seven years to develop the ports of Port Elizabeth and Ngqura.

The state owned company announced details of the seven year plan for the metamorphosis of the two ports in Nelson Mandela Bay to stakeholders over the past two days.

PE port manager, Rajesh Dana, said the port development framework plans for Nelson Mandela Bay will see an investment of R1.9bn in the port of Port Elizabeth which would create capacity, increases for containerised cargo, increasing capacity for the automotives, additional quay space for the fishing industry and the growth in the marina for leisure activities.

"In the Port of Ngqura we will be investing approximately R7.1bn and that would be directed primarily at increasing the capacity to handle containers, increase the capacity to handle manganese as well as liquid bulk. We would also be establishing an integrated port logistic park in the port of Ngqura," he added.

Dana also revealed that the current lease on the tank farm in the Port Elizabeth harbour which expires in 2014 will be extended to 2016 to allow for the completion of the tank farm at the Port of Ngqura.

He says their planning framework allows for manganese operations in the PE harbour to cease in 2017.

Dana says there's a two-fold explanation for the over-lapping time-frames.

"First and foremost, in the case of liquid bulk to guarantee fuel supply to Nelson Mandela Bay and secondly to afford the current operators and lessees in the port of Port Elizabeth to run down their current stock holdings."

"In the case of manganese it's purely to guarantee an export facility and once again to afford the terminal operator the opportunity of running down their stockpiles in the Port of Port Elizabeth," he said.

Dana told reporters that this was the first time that Transnet committed to time-frames for the removal of the tank farm and manganese ore dumps because it was also the first time that they could offer guaranteed time-frames on the removal.

"We are extremely confident that the time-frames presented will be met whereby liquid bulk will cease operations in the port of Port Elizabeth by 2016 and manganese exports will cease by 2017. Those dates have been informed by detailed project timelines as well as construction plans and processes that we have studied in detail," Dana said.

He said the once the tank farms and manganese ore dumps have been removed by the land will be rehabilitated for future use by 2019.

Dana said Transnet market research has given clear indications of an exponential growth in the automotive industry in Nelson Mandela Bay which would lend itself to the need to increase capacity, not only to serve our immediate automotive manufacturers but also that of the entire African continent.

"We would like to position the port of PE as the automotive transhipment hub for Africa."