South Africa’s Transnet claims the World Bank’s 2023 Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) – in which South Africa’s ports rank dismally overall and the Port of Cape Town came in at the bottom of the 405 ports listed –  contains “factual errors” that it had no opportunity to contest or correct.

In a statement, Transnet reports it has already met with World Bank representatives to raise its concerns about both the data, derived from Automatic Identification System and liner shipping data, and the methodology employed to compile the index.

It also claims that an agreement has been reached to allow measured terminals an opportunity to comment in future, arguing for “right of reply” in light of the reputational stakes associated with an index such as the CPPI.

The State-owned freight logistics group acknowledges “challenges in the ports”, but argues that the index’s reliance on third-party data that measures the duration of a vessel’s stay is “not a comprehensive indicator of a container terminal’s performance”.

“Upon entering a port, a vessel is serviced by many role players before the actual loading and offloading of cargo, and these services contribute to the length of its stay.

“The Bank’s measurement of vessel stay in port does not take into consideration throughput and other factors that determine the duration of a stay,” Transnet says.

The group also used its statement “denouncing” the CPPI to highlight the interventions being made through its Recovery Plan to improve port performance, which was badly affected by weather and equipment failures in the last quarter of 2023 that resulted in extreme backlogs at Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2 and the Cape Town Container Terminal.

No update was provided, however, on efforts to facilitate private-sector participation at the ports, including DCT Pier 2, where Transnet’s selection of International Container Terminal Services as a 25-year partner for Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) is being challenged legally by rival bidder AP Moller–Maersk

TPT has set a target to handle 4.4-million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2024/25, having handled 4.18-million TEUs last year.