It will not be a restful December period for exporters in the Western Cape, as producers of goods will be navigating challenges in the port environment, as well as the impact of US tariffs and ongoing trade tensions.
Terry Gale, chair of Exporters Western Cape, told Business Times that the biggest obstacle presented by the tariffs is the uncertainty exporters face, as they do not know whether the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) will be extended, if South Africa will be excluded, and what the country has “put on the table to alleviate this uncertainty”.
“We need to be proactive on this, as the Western Cape cannot afford to lose this trade lane. Already our manufacturers are feeling the crunch, with long-standing contracts not being renewed, [and] some factory volumes dropping from around 100 40ft containers per month to almost zero!”
Factories that export to the US market are situated in areas where unemployment is rife, Gale said, adding that 750 jobs had been lost in one instance due to a drop in the volume of exports to the US.
“The interesting fact is that US companies want to continue buying from South Africa, the Western Cape in particular, as we provide quality products at a competitive price thanks to Agoa, and can supply almost on demand due to the reliability of the weekly service from Cape Town, with a transit time of 21 days to Newark, New Jersey, with no transshipment delays.”
Gale said December was the start of the deciduous season exports, with grapes from the Northern Cape to the UK, EU and the Middle East already on the water.
“The challenges faced have been the impact of the wind on the main Cape Town terminal, averaging over 100 hours lost per week due to wind stoppages. This has resulted in the first of the grape exports being routed either via Port Elizabeth Coega or Walvis Bay at a massive additional cost for the account of the cargo, making our exports less competitive.”
He said the port situation was being carefully monitored and this has resulted in regular meetings and updates between all the stakeholders, as the fruit cannot wait and has to be prioritised for export.
“Of the new rubber tyre gantries, 12 of the new fleet are operational, and more are coming on stream. As they have a sway mechanism in place, they should be able to work in wind speeds over 100km/h, which hopefully will have a positive impact on the terminal operations going forward.
“As a backup, the Cape Town multi-purpose terminal is a backup; however, it can only handle vessels with their own equipment, as their landside equipment is limited.”
“As a backup, the Cape Town multi-purpose terminal is a backup; however, it can only handle vessels with their own equipment, as their landside equipment is limited.”
Gale said the wind has also resulted in berthing delays of three to five days and longer, with vessels either bypassing the Port of Cape Town or doing a “cut and run” to meet berthing windows at destination, short-shipping many of the booked containers.
The trade instability comes as a house committee of the US Congress is poised to consider the renewal of Agoa – a trade agreement that gives select African countries access to the US consumer market under preferential terms.
Wandile Sihlobo, agricultural economist at AgBiz, said that even though the US had imposed “reciprocal” tariffs on South Africa and other countries earlier this year, some categories of exports were later made exempt.
“The industries most exposed to the US tariffs are citrus, table grapes, wine, ostrich products, ice cream, fruit juices and nuts, amongst others. But we now have an exemption on oranges, fruit juices and nuts.”
Boitshoko Ntshabele, CEO of the Citrus Growers Association, said that while the citrus export season starts in April, it is never fully “off-season” as everyday orchard management and monitoring are intensive, and planning for the export season will also be a priority in the new year.
“The exemption [of citrus from the US tariffs] takes a considerable amount of pressure off our Western Cape and Northern Cape citrus producers. In the past season, South Africa shipped 4.3-million 15kg cartons of oranges to the US.”
Ntshabele said the exemption was great news for the 2026 season starting in April next year and “once again makes South African oranges competitive in the US market, a market that holds opportunities for increased exports and local job creation”.
“However, mandarin soft citrus varieties are not included in the new exemptions from the tariff. Our mandarins are popular in the US. The US should consider extending the current exemption to include mandarins and other citrus varieties, because they share similar market dynamics and supply chain vulnerabilities.”
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