THE South Africa Ports Regulator has rejected the National Ports Authority’s application for tariff increases averaging 5.9 percent and said no increase was justified, underlining the point by decreasing some tariffs.
The decision was welcomed by the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry which has long campaigned for lower port costs.
“We still have the situation where our ports are the most expensive in the world but the Ports Regulator is doing a good job in standing up to the NPA’s demands for further increases,” Ms Janine Myburgh, President of the Chamber.
“Unfortunately we also have a situation where Transnet is trying to undo the Regulator’s good work with massive increases on Port Terminal costs, the one area that lies outside the control of the regulator.”
Earlier this year Transnet Port Terminals announced a nine percent increase in its tariffs, a figure well above the inflation rate.
Ms Myburgh said Transnet’s manoeuvring should be seen against the background of an earlier study by the Ports Regulator which found that port costs faced by cargo owners in South Africa at the time were 874 percent higher than the global average.