December 2022 | BUSINESS FLEET AFRICA
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to September. Activities at the port of
Durban, the country’s biggest container
handling facility, dropped by 61.7% in
October, while the smaller ports were
proportionally harder hit, with East
London down by 91.4%, Port Elizabeth
by 75.5% and Cape Town by 66.9%.
The port of Ngqura fared best, with a
decline of 25.8%. Not only container
handling but also general cargo handling
was down by almost 23% compared to
September. On a quarterly basis, Sea
Freight declined by 4.2%.
Less port activity, specifically related
to container handling, resulted in less
activity for the Storage & Handling
sub-sector and also less activity for Road
Freight.
Just when it seemed that Storage &
Handling had made a turn for the better,
as reflected in two consecutive positive
monthly growth rates during August
and September, as well as a sizeable
9.1% quarter-on-quarter growth for the
third quarter, the Transnet strike hit the
supply chain. The result was that the
Storage & Handling segment declined by
1.1% on a monthly basis and by 2.1% on
an annual basis in October.
Road Freight has been resilient, and
its positive performance an ongoing
theme since mid-2020. However, the
strike hit the heavy vehicle segment
particularly hard. The number of heavy
trucks on the N3 declined by 4.0% during
October, while heavy vehicle traffic
on the N4 still showed some growth.
Frequent disruptions at the Durban port
has resulted in more companies con-
sidering the more stable Maputo port
for exports. However, lengthy delays at
border posts also played havoc during
October. Overall, it was a challenging
month for the Road Freight segment, as
also confirmed by a further decline in
the Road Freight payload for the country
as a whole. Though declining by 2.2%
on a monthly basis, Road Freight still
increased by a notable 20.3% on a yearly
basis, as it continued the positive growth
streak that commenced in January 2021.
The Air Freight sector, which showed
recent signs of strain, had a strong
month in October, implying that it might
have been a beneficiary of the logistical
troubles created by the Transnet strike.
The Air Freight component of the Ctrack
Transport and Freight Index increased by
3.2% on a monthly basis (following four
consecutive monthly declines) and came
in 12.4% higher in October compared
to a year ago. Total consolidated airport
flight movements increased by 11.8% in
October, unscheduled flights (typically
used for cargo) by 4.9% and loads on
planes by more than 18%. The stellar
performance of Air Freight helped to
soften the impact of the Transnet strike
on the overall performance of the Ctrack
Transport and Freight Index.
“Running a transport and logistics
operation in such a volatile environment
can only be done with an accurate fleet
management system in place. Ctrack has
the hardware and software to monitor
everything from trucks to containers
and more. These tools are a require-
ment for success in this environment,”
concluded Jordt.
Ctrack Transport & Freight
Index and GDP growth
The September 2022 Ctrack Transport
and Freight Index (120.2) increased
notably compared to the June index
level (115.4), signifying that the trans-
port sector contributed positively to
growth in Q3. While September (and
Q3) has been a particularly challenging
month for the South African economy,
given ongoing harsh load shedding,
high-frequency data from some of
the most energy-intensive sectors like
mining and manufacturing signalled
that the economy as a whole recorded
a marginal positive growth rate during
the third quarter (StatsSA will release
Q3 GDP growth stats on 6 December).
Encouragingly, the transport sector
outperformed the broader economy
during the second quarter (see graph 4),
increasing by 2.4% quarter on quarter
seasonally adjusted vs a 0.7% contrac-
tion in overall real GDP growth, a trend
that is likely to have prevailed during the
third quarter.
The negative impact of the pro-
longed Transnet strike that occurred
in October will still be felt for a couple
of months and could put a damper
on the country’s fourth-quarter GDP
performance. Furthermore, another
75bps hike in interest rates announced
by the South African Reserve Bank last
week, bringing the cumulative hikes
since November 2021 to 350bps, will
also add to the challenging business
environment for the transport industry
and the economy as a whole in Q4 and
into 2023. BFA
Table 1 Change in Ctrack Transport and freight Index in September and August 2022
October 2022 Tables
Percentage change between
Rail
Road
Pipeline
Sea
Air
Storage and
handling
Ctrack Freight
Transport Index
October 2022 vs October 2021 (y/y)
–7.2%
20.3%
–7.7%
0.3%
12.4%
–2.1%
10.0%
October 2022 vs September 2022 (m/m)
1.4%
–2.2%
–15.7%
–5.4%
3.2%
–1.1%
–1.8%
Quarter to October 2022 vs. Quarter to July 2022 (q/q)
0.3%
0.7%
–27.4%
–4.2%
–2.5%
7.6%
0.2%
Note: The row highlighted in blue is the main Ctrack Transport and Freight Index values used.
Source: Ctrack and economistscoza, TNPA, StatsSA, SARS, N3 and N4 toll concessions, ACSA, ACOC, IATA.
Just when it seemed that Storage & Handling had made a
turn for the better, as reflected in two consecutive positive
monthly growth rates during August and September, as
well as a sizeable 9.1% quarter-on-quarter growth for the
third quarter, the Transnet strike hit the supply chain.