BUSINESS FLEET AFRICA | July 2023
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TRANSPORT AND FREIGHT INDEX
The Ctrack Transport and Freight Index
(Ctrack TFI) reached its highest level on
record with 122.2 points at the end of
May 2023 (121.7 in April 2023), improving
for the fifth consecutive month. This
confirms a fairly synchronised recovery
of the overall logistics sector even though
the pace of improvement moderated
somewhat. The Ctrack Transport and
Freight Index increased by 0.4% in May
compared to April, which was somewhat
muted compared to the average monthly
increase of 1.9% in the preceding four
months. In addition, four of the six
sub-sectors that form part of the index in-
creased on a monthly basis. Road Freight
remained stagnant while Rail Freight
declined somewhat. On an annual basis
the Ctrack Transport and Freight Index
tracked 7.5% higher in May, compared
to the 5.6% year on year trend that was
recorded in April. This is evidence of
the encouraging momentum building in
the sector, but also partly reflects the
recovery that was required in the wake of
the KZN floods of May last year.
In a welcome development and
confirming the synchronised nature of
the current recovery, all six segments of
the Ctrack Transport and Freight Index
increased on a quarterly basis ending in
May 2023. On an annual basis, three of
the six segments have declined, despite
the overall index level increasing by a
healthy 7.5% compared to a year earlier.
Among the segments, Road Freight
remains the most resilient, with growth
of 15.2% for the year ending in May. The
three worst performing sectors continue
to be Rail Freight, Pipeline Transport and
Air Freight.
The logistics sector has been com-
pletely transformed in the past five years,
specifically relating to payload moving
from rail to road. The main driving factor
for this change has been the ongoing
deterioration and underperformance of
rail services offered by Transnet Freight
Rail. In its monthly Land Transport data
release, Statistics South Africa reports on
developments in Rail and Road Freight.
From reaching a rock-bottom low of only
10.3% of total freight payload being trans-
ported via rail in November 2022, the
performance of the Rail Freight segment
has improved somewhat to 16.1% in April
2023, though still notably lower than the
10-year average (2008-2017) of 25.9%
(Rail Freight to total payload) prior to the
onset of the significant deterioration. The
private sector operators have had to fill
the void and Road Freight has boomed,
especially post pandemic. From a ratio of
75.1% in 2017, Road Freight as a percent-
age of total freight being transported,
has gradually improved to 84.4% in 2022.
Although plans are afoot to reverse this
trend, many obstacles remain, and it will
most likely take a considerable amount of
time, motivation and noteworthy effort
to address all the current challenges
before a significant shift back to the use
of rail happens.
SA logistics sector records fifth
consecutive month of recovery
Graph 1 Ctrack Transport and Freight Index
70
60
80
90
100
110
120
Nov-18
Nov-19
Nov-20
Nov-21
Nov-22
May-18
May-19
May-20
May-21
May-22
Feb-19
Feb-20
Feb-21
Feb-22
Feb-23
May-23
Aug-18
Aug-19
Aug-20
Aug-21
Aug-22
130
CTRACK
Graph 2 Quarterly growth in sub-components of the Ctrack Transport and Freight
Index (%)
Storage
11.9
Rail
9.1
Pipeline
6.2
Air
3.4
Road
3.3
Sea
2.0
0%
2%
4%
8%
6%
10%
12%
14%
CTRACK