Iron-ore exports on the up

The Saldanha Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT), owned and operated by State freight logistics company Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), recorded a volume increase of 6.2% year-to-date in March, it announced in the build-up to its financial year-end at the end of March.

The terminal also exceeded its budgeted volumes by 9% in February, compared to the 3% decrease recorded in February last year.

“The success of the terminal can be attributed to the fact that the equipment at the Saldanha MPT is currently in optimal condition and meets the terminal’s design capacity,” says TPT Western Cape region managing executive Oscar Borchards.

He adds that Saldanha MPT’s focus is to ensure that the current equipment remains serviceable and reliable, ensuring reduced downtime at its berths.

The Saldanha MPT currently operates four berths, two of which are dedicated to iron-ore and manganese commodities, while the other two cover the rest of the commodities.

He lauds the “effective and efficient” way in which the terminal is being operated and says it currently has limited operational challenges, with employees taking pride in the Transnet brand and their work.

Additionally, the terminal focuses on ensuring that it has sufficient cargo to allow optimal berthing.

The Saldanha MPT embarked on an optimisation drive in its current financial year through several initiatives, which have contributed to improved performance on vessel stay and turnaround time, improving from an average of five days to three days for some vessels. The initiatives included extending the use of critical equipment such as the mobile ship loader.

“Saldanha MPT currently uses a hybrid loading method that deploys a mobile ship loader, which is semi-automated and has been proven to work faster, together with skip operations, which are manual and compatible with the terminal’s operations,” explains Borchards.

He says Saldanha MPT continuously strives to exceed the expectations of its customers, adding that this commitment is evidenced in the terminal’s consistent performance, as it regularly meets and exceeds its operational key performance indicators.

“The terminal’s loading rate performance has been steady, positively impacting on operational efficiencies,” enthuses Borchards.

Further, in the last two weeks of June and in the first week of July, Saldanha MPT exceeded its loading targets, loading upwards of 800 t/h, exceeding its 660 t/h target, while the terminal exceeded its manganese volume targets by 8.9% last month.

Dynamic and Adaptable

“Being a multipurpose terminal means we are dynamic in our approach, and it is often required that our planning is adaptable to fulfil our performance obligations,” says Borchards.

He cites the company’s tapping into the expertise of its industrial engineers to conduct time studies, ultimately resulting in a solution on how to shorten its loading times.

While the solution currently works better on some vessels, depending on the type of commodity, it is the port’s goal to continuously seek opportunities to improve performance holistically.

One of Saldanha MPT’s priorities is to continuously engage all stakeholders to ensure alignment.

“Our main objective is to deliver on our promise; therefore, it is critical that we are inclusive and allow for close collaboration with our customers,” concludes Borchards.