According to an article by Fruitnet, the ongoing crisis at the container terminal in Cape Town’s port is causing significant concern in South Africa’s fresh produce industry. Industry leaders are considering legal action against the port authority to recover losses incurred due to delays.
Anton Rabe, Hortgro’s executive director, expressed frustration over the persistent issues, stating that the situation has become unacceptable. The delays are causing a loss in quality and condition of fruits, leading to significant internal movement within the country to expedite exports.
Despite meetings and promises, the situation has not improved substantially since last year. However, Rabe noted some recent improvements, with better movement through the port in the past week. He emphasized the urgency of exporting large quantities of fruit, including table grapes, stonefruit, and pears, and mentioned that shifting containers to Eastern Cape ports might alleviate some pressure on Cape Town.
Grape exporters in the Western Cape reported packing for three weeks without being able to ship containers through Cape Town, with unconfirmed reports of millions of cartons of grapes being delayed. The issues are partly attributed to strong winds affecting the container terminal and inefficiencies in loading ships due to insufficient equipment.
Exporters who secured space on specialized reefer vessels have managed to ship some volumes, leading to a focus on these types of shipments in the future. These vessels offer greater efficiency and are less affected by wind.
The delays have also severely impacted stonefruit shippers to the U.S. Lohan Marais of Icon Fruit reported significant delays, but noted improvements with the loading of the third vessel. There are considerations for introducing a charter vessel to directly deliver fruit to Philadelphia, closer to U.S. customer depots.
Marais highlighted the potential opportunities for South African stonefruit and table grapes in the U.S. market, expressing concern that delays in Cape Town could harm their reputation and market development efforts in the U.S.