SA slumps to bottom of global port rankings

SA dominated the bottom of the rankings of the world's ports in 2023, throwing into stark relief just how much damage to the country's competitiveness has been dealt by logistics dysfunction at Transnet. According to the World Bank and S&P Global Container Port Performance Index for 2023, the Port of Ngqura in the Eastern Cape and Cape Town were the worst-performing and least competitive ports last year, ranking second-last and last on a list of 405 ports, respectively. Fin24 reports that Durban, SA’s largest port which handlers nearly half the country's maritime traffic, was ranked 399th. The World Bank index considered data captured from about 194 000 port calls (the total hours spent at a port) and 250m container movements at 876 container terminals. It also includes time stamp information from the world's shipping giants. According to the index, the best-performing port is the Port of Yangshan in China, followed by the Port of Salalah in Oman and Cartagena Port in Colombia. In sub-Saharan Africa, the highest-ranking ports were located in Somalia, with the Berbera and Mogadishu occupying the top two spots on the list and ranking 103 and 176 globally. Conakry in Guinea was the third best-performing port in the region, with a global ranking of 208. The highest-ranked South African port on the list was the Port Elizabeth, which was ranked 34th in the region and 391 globally. Maputo in Mozambique and Walvis Bay in Namibia, were ranked at 14th (317 globally) and 32nd in the region (382).