Philippines terminal operator International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) has been selected to run South Africa’s largest port.
ICTSI has been named as the preferred bidder for the 25-year joint venture with Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) to operate and further develop the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2.
A total of 18 responses were received to Transnet’s initial call for request for interest in August 2021, nine of them from global terminal operators.
Following this, a total of 10 bids were shortlisted in response to a request for qualifications. Of the shortlisted respondents, six bidders submitted proposals.
DCT Pier 2 is Transnet’s biggest container terminal, handling 72% of the Port of Durban’s throughput and 46% of South Africa’s port traffic.
The terminal has 1,760 meters of operational quay length and 120 ha of container storage and backup area. No financial terms were disclosed.
Transnet SOC, which owns and runs South Africa’s ports and freight-rail network, said the partnership with ICTSI will “help reposition the terminal for best practice performance, ensuring growth in volume throughput, and will support the terminal in providing operational and commercial support to access global shipping line call routes”.
Transnet Group chief executive Portia Derby said private sector participation in Pier 2 is a key catalyst for repositioning the Port of Durban as a container hub port.
“This will not only improve the logistics associated with servicing South African ports but will play a significant part in stimulating exports and imports,” Transnet SOC said.
“This is a growth strategy for Transnet where Pier 2’s current capacity of 2m-teu is planned to increase to 2.8m-teu.
“This is aligned with plans by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) to increase the current container capacity in the Port of Durban from 3.3m-teu to an eventual envisaged capacity of 11.4m-teu,” Transnet added.
Durban ranked 364th out of 370 ports in a 2021 World Bank index of container port performance. Two other Transnet ports were in the bottom 10.
South Africa is seeking is seeking to boost private participation in its ports, the poor performance of which is a drag on the economy.
ICTSI is the largest independent terminal operator and ranked the eighth-largest container terminal operator in the world by TEU equity volume.
The Manilia-headquartered company operates 34 terminal operations in 20 countries across six continents, including four in Africa.
In 2021/22 financial year, ICTSI handled over 12.2m-teu and generated more than $2.2bn in gross revenues from port operations. ICTSI has 11 000 employees.
