Last week, Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) reportedly handled 100 158 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and 27 879 fully-built units (FBU) across automotives. In the same week, the Ngqura Container Terminal (NCT) exceeded its daily moves by 60%, recording 2 760 moves in one day.

“The team has risen to the occasion, solidifying that the current 2025/26 financial year ending in March 2026 is their defining moment of excellence,” TPT CE Jabu Mdaki said on October 16.

TPT reported that it had broken 14 performance records in the last six months across loading rates; daily, weekly and annual container and automotive volumes; as well as train turnaround times.

Some of the milestones were last seen ten years ago, including exceeding the 100 000 TEU mark in a single week, which TPT has achieved three times so far in the current financial year.

The operator has also managed to close shortfall gaps in some commodities, including magnetite and containers.  

According to Mdaki, the improved performance can be traced throughout the 16 terminals nationally and the four sectors that the business operates in, namely containers, bulk, breakbulk and automotive.

He said the results could be attributed to four main initiatives.

The first of these is the injection of new equipment including the nine rubber–tyred gantry (RTG) cranes for the Durban Container Terminal Pier 1 and another nine for the Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT), 20 straddle carriers for the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2, a ship-to-shore crane for the Port Elizabeth Container Terminal (PECT) and more than 200 haulers and trailers for all container terminals.

The second initiative was aimed at focused maintenance, which Mdaki said resulted in reduced breakdowns and increased uptime of equipment.

The third initiative is centred on process improvements, while the fourth comprises various people management initiatives, including the introduction of a fourth shift to ensure employee wellbeing for improved performance, as well as a new incentive scheme.

He said that year-on-year comparisons had seen terminals also improve productivity rates.

In containers, the CTCT has improved its ship working hour by 32%, while the Ngqura Container Terminal and DCT improved by 27% and 24%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the PECT also recorded a ship working hour improvement of 16%, while the DCT Pier 1 recorded 14%.