Ports expansion to drive up maritime trade

Maxwell Adombila Akalaare/Graphic Business/Ghana Business News Feb - 26 - 2014 , 08:59

The Ghana Shippers' Authority (GSA) anticipates the volume of cargo passing through the country's twin seaports to rise further should the expansion works and upgrading of facilities in the Tema and Takoradi ports be concluded successfully.

The authority is confident the expansion and upgrading works will help endear the two ports to shippers, thereby leading to increased shipment of goods through them and a resultant rise in annual cargo throughput.

Cargo throughput, which refers to the total volume of goods passing through the country on yearly basis, has been rising at an annual average of about 12 per cent over the past ten years.

The increases over the years have been driven by the stable socio-political environment in the country and the friendly nature of the country's ports to the shipping community.

But with expansion works at the Takoradi and Tema ports now due to be concluded by June this year, the Head of Logistics and Freight at the GSA, Madam Sylvia Asana Owu, said the rate of the increment could even be higher.

"Going forward, we see a very bright future for maritime trade, especially now that the various challenges that hinder trade at the two ports are being addressed by the stakeholders," Madam Owu said, pointing to the US$344 million phased-expansion of the Takoradi Port and the proposed expansion of the Tema Port.

"As you know, congestion has been a major issue to both importers and exporters but now that the ports are being expanded and more facilities added, we anticipate that it will lead to more cargo being shipped and many shippers opting for Ghana as the preferred shipping destination," she added.

Maritime trade defies election petition blues

The Head of Freight and Logistics at the GSA was speaking to the paper after the authority released data on cargo throughput for 2013.

The data showed that a total of 21.5 million tonnes of cargo, comprising of 16.5 million tonnes of imports and five million tonnes of exports, were shipped through the country's twin seaports last year.

The 2013 cargo throughput is about 10.7 per cent higher than the one recorded in 2012, according to the data.

The 10.7 per cent growth rate was in spite of the election petition, which lasted some eight months; within which it generated heavy uncertainty in the economy and caused most investors and other business concerns, including shippers, to adopt 'a wait-and-see attitude' towards their operations.

Madam Owu told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS that the 10.7 per cent rise in the maritime trade for 2013 was "very encouraging" and a testament of the confidence that the shipping community had in the country.

While admitting that the court case, which was dismissed in August last year, on grounds of lack of evidence, had affected the import and export business in 2013, she said a tremendous increase in cargo shipment right after the case was settled helped to neutralise the impact.

"You will agree with me that during the first half of the year, we were all talking about the court case and business people wanted to wait and see the outcome before placing orders. That certainly affected the level of imports and exports within the period.

"But if you look at the statistics from July to September, right after the petition, you notice a tremendous increase of about 25 per cent in imports and 13 per cent in exports. This, to us, was very high because for the past 12 years, we have been experiencing 10 to 17 per cent increases and for you to have 25 per cent increase in one quarter shows the confidence that importers and exporters had in the economy," she added.

Transit trade springs surprise

The authority is the umbrella body of shippers in the country and as part of its efforts at providing shipping solutions to the shipping community, the authority collates data on the shipment of cargo in and out of the country on quarterly, semi-annually and annual basis.

Its latest data showed that out of the total cargo that passed through the Tema and Takoradi Ports in 2013, about 16.7 million tones, representing some 77 per cent of the period’s total, were shipped through the Tema Port, while the remaining 23 per cent passed through the Takoradi Port.

It further showed that transit trade – cargo passing through the twin seaports to neighbouring countries – shot up by about 97 per cent to 1.03 million tonnes within the 12-month period.

That was after it fell by 12 per cent from the 2011 close to 5236,173 tonnes in 2012 only to climb to the 2013 figure.

The Head of Fireght and Logistics at the authority attributed the development to the growing confidence that transit shippers have on the country's port system and its corridors.

"Ghana has always been a favourable corridor for the transistors - Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso - due to the fact that they (the transit shippers) find our ports very favourable. Our corridors, according to them (the transistors), are of less harassment and these account for the sharp rise in the transit cargo," she explained.

She, however added that the decision to strictly implement the axle load weighing system could cause some transistors to change their routes, given that the system limits the amount of cargo one could carry on the road at a time.

"As it is now, people can load more cargo through Côte d'Ivoire than through Ghana and that has the tendency of diverting the trade," she observed.