SWAKOPMUND – Cargo handling at the Namibia Ports Authority has significantly increased during the 2023/2024 fiscal year, with the authority handling 8 million metric tonnes (t) of cargo during the said period.
Namport’s commercial executive Elia Mwenyo indicated yesterday that during the previous budget year, they handled 7.7 million tonnes of cargo.
The success of Namport’s operations is attributed to building and maintaining solid relationships with key stakeholders such as the Walvis Bay Corridor Group, shipping lines, cargo owners, government agencies and the larger port community.
According to Mwenyo, the major contributor is the exportation of goods, including salt, copper, frozen fish, manganese ore and zinc/lead.
“Specifically, bulk salt saw a growth of 10%, while copper concentrate increased by 12%, and bagged and frozen fish increased by 29%. As for manganese ore, we recorded an increase to 15.7%, while marble increased by 41%, and zinc/lead concentrates grew by 2.9%,” the executive said.
Mwenyo added that imports during the same financial year also increased as petroleum surged, representing a substantial 26% increase.
Other imported commodities include copper concentrate, ammonium nitrate, wheat and ship spares. Additionally, the authority recorded a 7.9% increase in the importation of goods, compared to the previous financial year.
He said the number of vessels calling at Namibian ports also saw an overall increase of 29%, increasing from 1 636 to 2 115 calls. This, he said, was primarily driven by increased activity across various vessel categories, including foreign tugs, dry bulk vessels, containerised vessels, foreign fishing vessels, petroleum vessels, Namibian fishing vessels, research vessels and general vessels. More so, during the financial year under review, an increase in the occupancy rate of Syncrolift facilities was also recorded.
“The repair jetties’ occupancy rose from 64% to 96%, while bay occupancy lagged at 47%, compared to 52% in the previous financial year,” he said.
-edeklerk@nepc.com.na