Corporate Moving — South African ports impose congestion surcharge on inbound shipments

South African Port Congestion Surcharge

Due to the congestion experienced at South African ports generating difficult conditions to operate, most shipping lines have indicated that they will apply a congestion surcharge for cargo from any destination into South Africa for all dry cargo.

Who will be affected?

All inbound shipments to South Africa.

Background

A number of factors have contributed to the decision by certain carriers to implement an additional congestion surcharge, most notably the following:

• Heavy congestion at the Port of Durban—Southern Africa’s busiest container port with delays of up to 20 days or more result in vessels omitting the port of Durban.
• Port inefficiency is blamed for the slow turnaround as cargo is increasingly being diverted to Maputo, Mozambique or Luanda, Angola, resulting in a permanent loss of export traffic for South Africa.
• While the performance of South Africa’s ports has improved in recent years, the container terminals in Durban and Ngqura remain at their lowest productivity levels worldwide.

Impact

A congestion surcharge (CGS) will be charged at US$210/TEU for all Import cargo arriving at any South African ports.

Date of implementation

03 December 2023.

Santa Fe analysis

If you have any shipment destined for South Africa, it would be advisable to inform your client/assignee and corporate client of the port congestion surcharge will be billed back at cost.

For any inquiries or further clarification, you are welcome to reach out to the designated contacts below:

Adele Steyn
Move Manager—Africa
Santa Fe Relocation
+27 21 200 4240
adele.steyn@santaferelo.com

Paolo Longo
General Manager – Africa
Santa Fe Relocation
+27 10 595 2337
paolo.longo@santaferelo.com