A new eight billion rand government-owned container terminal on South Africa's eastern coast should be operational by 2009, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Thursday.
In a media briefing in Cape Town, Erwin said the facility at Coega, located near Port Elizabeth, could have four landing berths and handle six million containers per year, double the capacity originally forecast. "It will be a pretty big container terminal which could handle large volumes," Erwin said.
South Africa has embarked on a massive modernisation of its ports, with plans to invest 78 billion rand over the next five years to improve terminals and other infrastructure and revamp rail lines that lead to ports. Bottlenecks and delays at ports have acted as a brake on growth in Africa's economic powerhouse.
Erwin said it was crucial that the terminal be ready in two years time so that supplies could be shipped to a proposed Alcan aluminium plant in the Coega industrial zone. Construction on the Alcan plant is due to begin next year.
He added that the deepwater terminal could also be a key supplier to mines and other businesses in the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng provinces. Gauteng is home to Johannesburg, the hub of South Africa's economy.
There are also plans to have the port handle transshipments for goods heading from outside South Africa to South America, Asia and other parts of Africa.
The South African also may bring in a partner for the new terminal, although Erwin said it hadn't decided whether that would occur at an investor or managerial level.
In a media briefing in Cape Town, Erwin said the facility at Coega, located near Port Elizabeth, could have four landing berths and handle six million containers per year, double the capacity originally forecast. "It will be a pretty big container terminal which could handle large volumes," Erwin said.
South Africa has embarked on a massive modernisation of its ports, with plans to invest 78 billion rand over the next five years to improve terminals and other infrastructure and revamp rail lines that lead to ports. Bottlenecks and delays at ports have acted as a brake on growth in Africa's economic powerhouse.
Erwin said it was crucial that the terminal be ready in two years time so that supplies could be shipped to a proposed Alcan aluminium plant in the Coega industrial zone. Construction on the Alcan plant is due to begin next year.
He added that the deepwater terminal could also be a key supplier to mines and other businesses in the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng provinces. Gauteng is home to Johannesburg, the hub of South Africa's economy.
There are also plans to have the port handle transshipments for goods heading from outside South Africa to South America, Asia and other parts of Africa.
The South African also may bring in a partner for the new terminal, although Erwin said it hadn't decided whether that would occur at an investor or managerial level.