More South African fruit transported via rail

Although South Africa has an extensive rail infrastructure running from most of the fruit production areas to the ports, currently 99% of fruit for export is transported from the production regions to the ports by truck. While there are many reasons for the gross underutilisation of the rail system, the current situation is placing a huge burden on the country’s road infrastructure as well as the environment while the rapidly increasing cost of road transport is having a considerable effect on the profitability of the fruit industry. A recently renewed collaborative effort between the South African Fruit industry, Transnet Freight Rail, Transnet Port Terminals and the Transnet National Ports Authority is currently achieving good results in moving fruit transport from road to rail with the use of specialised reefer trains which transport fruit in refrigerated containers.

To illustrate the extent of road usage with some statistics, the fruit sector annually produces approximately 2.655 million pallets of fruit for export in production regions spread widely across the country. Some of the fruit production regions are more than 1000 km from the ports from which the fruit is exported. A study completed by Fruit South Africa indicates that fruit is transported to ports by approximately 135 000 road truck trips annually. This amounts to around 480 million kilometres at a cost of R969 million. In South Africa the cost of transport has increased by up to 47% since 2009.

In response to this situation the fruit industry established an initiative in order to promote the return to the use of rail transport. The Rail Transport Working Group has the sole aim of promoting the use of rail for fruit exports. The working group has existed for 5 years and was initially under the auspices of The Fresh Produce Exporters’ Forum. During 2015 the project was moved and became a Fruit South Africa (FSA) portfolio.

Under FSA this directive has gained new momentum and is producing good results. FSA has determined that between citrus, avocados and grapes up to 12,000 refrigerated containers; 10% of the total fruit export volume, could potentially be transported annually by rail from production regions to ports for export.

Mitchell Brooke the Logistics Development Manager for CGA (Citrus Growers’ Association) represents Fruit South Africa on the Rail Transport Working Group and he explained the group’s aim as follows: “Our key focus is to vastly increase the use of rail to reduce logistics costs, reduce the time the fruit spends in the supply chain and to add value to fruit producers. South Africa; through the joint operations of Transnet, has the ability to be the global leaders in refrigerated container [intermodal] transportation”, he added.

Daleen Endley, the Key Account Executive at Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) Cape Town explained that as the trains transport perishable products, these trains receive priority on the rail lines and that the train’s transit time from Tzaneen to Cape Town is roughly 48 hours. The train also transports empty containers for packing to Tzaneen on the return route. Although the service has been running for a number of years volumes have increased sharply this year and this is largely due to better support of the service by the Fruit Industry.

Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) Commercial Key Account Manager David Davids at the Port of Cape Town explains that the TPT team in Cape Town is enthusiastic about the increase of rail fruit shipments through the port which have resulted from the increased co-operation with the Fruit Industry in the process. TPT work closely with TFR to co-ordinate the timing of the arrival of the reefer trains and they prioritise the allocation of sufficient resources to receive and offload the containers. The train’s siding in the port is conveniently close to the electrical plug-in stacks and the unloading process can be completed within a short turnaround time. The citrus season (May to September) is a quiet period for the Port of Cape Town during this period and thus has sufficient plug-in stacks and other resources to handle the current and potential increase of volumes of citrus for shipment through the port. Loading ships In Cape Town is often hampered by strong winds but TPT also has equipment to allow for ship loading even in strong winds.

Mitchell Brooke also explained on how the production to port rail link connects with the export destination of the fruit and the pivotal role of the shipping companies in this process. “For fruit that is destined for shipment to the Med, UK, Europe, Scandinavia and Russia via the Atlantic Ocean route, our strategic outlook is to prioritize that all railed containerized fruit exports should be transported to Cape Town for export on the SAECS (Southern Africa Europe Container Services) and MSC Europe liner services. Currently 70% of all South African fruit exports are shipped on these services to these markets each year.” On this route Cape Town is the closest South African port to the export destinations. The sailing time to Europe from Cape Town is approximately 18 days whereas from Durban is closer to 25 days.

“We are also investigating the possibility of consolidating the north bound shipping trade with south bound shipping trade to ensure that equipment is fully utilized on both trade directions for 12 months of the year,” explains Brooke. “Containers on the south bound trade can be discharged in Cape Town, transported to Gauteng for de-stuffing and distribution. The containers can then be prepared and moved into the fruit production areas for stuffing and transporting by rail back to Cape Town for export on the northbound shipping trade.”

In 2011 less than 300 containers were transported to the port by train. Currently there are two trains operating between Tzaneen in Limpopo and the ports of Cape Town and Durban transporting refrigerated containers packed with citrus for export. In the 2015 citrus season it is estimated that 900 containers (18,000 pallets) will be transported from Tzaneen to Durban and Cape Town and during 2016 this is expected to increase to 1500 containers.

Van Tonder explained that the trains are currently only able to transport 38 containers per train and added that Transnet will soon be making available 10 extra carriages that are customised to carry containers per train and so each train with then be able to transport 48 containers per trip. In addition Transnet is also in the process of constructing three entirely new 48 carriage unit trains that will be operational and available to the fruit industry by the middle of 2016.

Trains service plans to expand beyond citrus to other fruit kinds
The reefer train was first utilised by the Subtropical export industry to transport refrigerated containers packed with avocados between Tzaneen and Cape Town for export. Due to lack of service delivery the Subtropical export industry stopped using the service which was then adopted for citrus exports between Tzaneen and Durban. “Most of the fruit currently transported by these trains is citrus but as the service is extended with improved infrastructure and service delivery, during the next year it is likely that it will receive more support from the deciduous and subtropical fruit industries,” explained van Tonder.

Cost savings and logistical benefits of the reefer train service
The cost reduction of transporting the fruit to port in bulk by rail can be further increased if on the return journey the train is able to deliver empty refrigerated containers for packing to the inland production regions. This process allows fruit exporters to pack the fruit into refrigerated containers directly at the production source and for implementing best cold chain practice from source to destination. This also negates the need to transport the individual pallets to the port by truck for containerisation in the port. The pallets of fruit that are packed into containers at the production region are handled 6 times from packhouse to container while individual pallets transported to port in trucks can be handled up to 18 times. The extra handling is costly and potentially damaging to the fruit in the cartons. The time factor of packing containers in the port can take several days and can delay the departure for fruit while containers packed and railed from production regions often reach the marketplace up to ten days earlier than fruit containerised in port. This difference in shipping time can have a significant effect on potential returns for the grower and shipper.

Moving freight into the ports in bulk is more convenient for the port operations to concentrate on dealing with the intake of one large consignment (a train with 38 or more containers) than with many smaller consignments (many trucks each arriving with one container). The port of Durban regularly experiences severe congestion during the fruit season. Road trucks transporting citrus, often in ambient temperature, regularly have to wait for hours to be attended to and this can have an adverse effect on the quality of fruit. Moving containers of citrus by rail from Limpopo to Cape Town makes complete sense.

“What we need for this project to be successful in the long term is buy in from the Fruit Export companies. If they bring the cargo we will bring the trains,” concluded van Tonder.

A reefer train arrives in Cape Town with 38 containers of citrus to be loaded on the Maersk Grabouw destined for Europe
Photographs: Louise Brodie

For more information:
Mitchell Brooke
Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa
Tel: (+27) 31 765 2514
Email: mitchell@cga.co.za