It’s back to the drawing board for the South African port authority after the country’s Ports Regulator reduced port tariffs by an overall 6.27% effective from April 1 2019/20.
Transnet National Port Authority had applied for a 4.21% increase for the 2019/2020 financial year with indicative tariff increases of 18.57% and 6.34% for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 periods.
Ports Regulator chief executive Mahesh Fakir, said the Regulator considered this an appropriate overall adjustment after considering Transnet National Port Authority’s application, the submissions received by stakeholders and the latest available data.
The adjustment will enable the Authority to recover R12.563 billion or 92% of the applied for revenue.
Marine services and related tariffs
Of interest to the fishing industry is that marine services and related tariffs, excluding that related to cargo dues, remain unchanged at 2018/2019 levels.
“We are confident that this will result in a 1.2% increase on last year’s allowed revenue, ensuring their sustainability. It will also provide the financial space to ensure that the capital programme included in the application totaling R4.413 billion is fully implemented,” said Fakir.
Capex
Fakir said the wider economic environment remained a concern because while it might be tempting to cut back on capital expenditure in a downturn, it was critical for the port system, as a facilitator of trade, to be ready for the eventual upswing in economic growth.
“As such, it must again be noted that besides the capital expenditure allowed, operational costs amounting to R 6.291 billion, including Group overhead costs amounting to R629 million was allowed for fully, thus ensuring the sustainability and further development of the South African port infrastructure system,” he said.
