Transnet

Transnet National Ports Authority

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) is the custodian of the country’s primary trading hubs, managing the most vital conduits of the country’s imports and exports.

Eight of the country’s major seaports are controlled and managed by the TNPA namely: Richards Bay, Durban, Saldanha, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Mossel Bay and Ngqura (Coega) in the Eastern Cape.

The TNPA offers a combination of port facilities and services which compliment each other. Each port has a natural hinterland with a defined market, which drives the nature of services, facilities and the types of cargo handled at each port. Consequently, each port operates and develops its own service, which in turn supports a defined customer base.

A fundamental factor that links all of these ports is that they all operate against the backdrop of rapidly increasing trade resulting from the country's economic growth and globalisation. These operational issues include:

Rapidly changing technology
The bargaining power of buyers and suppliers
The emergence of global terminal operators
Ever-changing distribution patterns

The efficiency of the country's ports and the sustainability of their operating methods are central to the country's larger economy. As the primary conduit for trade, the ports serve as gateways between South African and world economies.

Sustainability is emerging as a key issue, influencing new development, current operations and relationships with a wide range of national and international partners. Implicit in the concept of sustainability are factors such as: