Port of Richards Bay
South Africa’s Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has appointed Grindrod South Africa as the preferred bidder to develop and operate a container handling facility at the Port of Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal.
The appointment is in line with TNPA’s strategy to increase the yearly container handling capacity at the port, which is known as South Africa’s main coal export terminal, from 50 000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 200 000 TEUs.
The project will involve capital investment of about R285-million, which TNPA acting CEO Phyllis Difeto says will significantly enhance the port’s infrastructure, and the proposed container handling facility will serve the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal province.
Grindrod South Africa will partner with Eyamakhosi Resources, a local entity within the Umhlathuze municipality, on the project.
Grindrod Limited CEO Xolani Mbambo has expressed optimism that the facility will enhance global trade, as well as the region's economic growth and development.
The award comes as Transnet continues to wait on the outcome of a legal dispute relating to its selection in July last year of International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI), of the Philippines, as a 25-year partner for Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2.
Rival bidder AP Moller–Maersk, of Denmark, is contesting the selection of ICTSI, and it is currently anticipated that the case will be heard between July and September.
Transnet Port Terminals insists that it will continue to invest in DCT Pier 2 pending the outcome of the legal dispute.