17 August 2022
Ten applicants have been selected for the Durban Container Terminal Pier 2 (DCT2), in KwaZulu-Natal, and an additional four for the Ngqura Container Terminal (NCT), in the Eastern Cape, by Transnet.
To choose preferred bidders by February 2023, Transnet will now distribute a request for proposal (RFP) papers to the selected companies, which were identified following a two-step qualifying process that was originally launched in 2021.
There will be no asset sales and the terminals will be returned to TPT after the concession period is up thanks to the group’s plan to construct 25-year special purpose entities between the successful bidders and Transnet Port Terminals (TPT).
The ten businesses that made the DCT2 shortlist include:
- APM Terminals AMI Management DMCEST
- China Harbour Engineering Company and Guangzhou Port Company
- COSCO Shipping Ports Limited
- DP World Limited
- Global Ports Services
- Grindrod Freight Services and Hamburger Hafen Und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft
- International Container Terminal Services;
- Red Sea Gateway Terminal and MMC Port Holdings;
- Star Classic Investments Limited and Abu Dhabi Ports; and
- Terminal Investment Limited and REMGRO Limited.
APM Terminals AMI Management DMCEST, Red Sea Gateway Terminal and MMC Port Holdings, Star Classic Investments Limited and Abu Dhabi Ports, and Terminal Investment Limited and REMGRO Limited are the four respondents who have been shortlisted for the NCT RFP process.
Under the government’s Operation Vulindlela effort, private sector involvement at the two terminals—which are both running far below their nameplate capacities—has been designated as a crucial reform.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana recently provided an Operation Vulindlela progress update, and he hailed the RFPs as a significant step forward in allowing seasoned foreign terminal operators to engage in the improvement of infrastructure and management of port operations.
“Transnet is repositioning Durban as a gateway hub port and plans for significant growth in container capacity over the coming years. As part of the port masterplans, Transnet aims to improve commercial performance and throughput at DCT2 by bringing in a partner with international terminal operations experience.”
To quickly boost the performance and volume throughput at the two ports, Transnet claims that collaborating with international port terminal operators and shipping lines offers the chance to draw in much-needed investment as well as instil best-practice management and enhanced technological capability.
Source: Transnet SOC Ltd Media Statement/12 August 2022.