Manganese rail link on track
[caption id="attachment_38775" align="alignright" width="300"] RECORD PROFIT: Transnet Group chief executive Brian Molefe reveals that De Aar will be revived as a rail hub[/caption]
TRANSNET is steaming ahead with the establishment of a lucrative manganese corridor, which is set to change the landscape stretching between the Eastern and Northern Cape significantly.
Transnet will invest R26-billion in both the rail infrastructure upgrade and building of an export terminal at the Port of Ngqura over the next five years – with the first manganese to be exported from Ngqura in 2019, Transnet Freight Rail chief executive Siyabonga Gama said.
He was speaking after Transnet's financial results presentation in Johannesburg yesterday.
Transnet's total capital investment in the 2013-14 financial year has increased 15.6% to R31.8-billion.
The business case to expand Transnet's manganese export capacity through a new bulk terminal at Ngqura was completed last year and has proceeded through the approval process.
An environmental impact assessment is also under way for the upgrade of the railway line between the manganese mine in Hotazel in the Northern Cape and Ngqura.
Gama said work on the line would begin on the Port Elizabeth side.
This bold commitment to the manganese corridor means that Port Elizabeth's beachfront would finally become less of an eye-sore when the manganese terminal moves to Ngqura.
Transnet Group chief executive Brian Molefe painted a healthy picture of the parastatal's financial situation yesterday, with a total investment in the country's rail, ports and pipelines of R300-billion over seven years now into its second year.
Molefe said Transnet would be going back to the Northern Cape town of De Aar, which was left a "ghost town" after the railway closed down in the 1990s.
"It will be a major rail hub for manganese which will be exported through the Ngqura harbour," he said.
Due to rescue efforts and financial and shareholder difficulty at Elitheni Coal, an infrastructure investment into the East London Harbour by Transnet did not bear fruit.
However, Molefe said East London was always just a temporary arrangement and that the manganese terminal at Ngqura could benefit from some of the infrastructure, such as the mobile cranes, which could be redeployed to Ngqura.
Molefe said Mercedes-Benz SA must have consulted a traditional healer because the vehicle manufacturer was initially concerned about the effect the coal exports at East London Harbour would have on the luxury vehicles exported from the same port.
Transnet will also invest in a new administration building for the National Ports Authority, as well as the construction of an administration craft basin for tugs at Ngqura.
Transnet's profit for the year increased by 24.9% and, for the first time in the history of the company, it has topped the R5-billion target to achieve a R5.2-billion profit.
Contributing to this healthy profit margin was strong growth in rail volumes, particularly in the case of automotive and container rail with a volume increase of 25.2%.
Iron ore and manganese had decreased in rail volumes by 2.2%, while port container terminal volumes increased by 5.4%.
The general freight volumes increased by 6% due to increased container and automotive business, of which Molefe said about 25% could be attributed to the automotive business alone.
Maritime container terminal volumes increased by 5% due to an increase in transshipment volumes, especially at Ngqura. - Cindy Preller
