Abstract |
With the aim of triggering growth, small geographical areas have been identified by the South African authorities where firms will be granted special investment and trade incentives, the Industrial Development Zones (IDZs). The Dube Trade Port (DTP), located at La Mercy and Richards Bay/Empangeni, is a state-of-the-art multimodal logistics gateway strategically located on the coast of KwaZula-Natal (KZN) Province. The gateway offers specific forms of dedicated logistic supports geared towards the production of time critical goods for foreign markets. This DTP report has been developed in a context of a forthcoming overhaul of the transport infrastructure network in KZN and in other Provinces where goods are re-directed at important transport nodes. The reforms of the infrastructure will have substantial impacts on the trade and industrial
performance of both, the Province and the Nation. As such the DTPs time critical emphasis will be supported by a more efficient and suitable rail, sea and land transport network. This report seeks to explore some of the prospects associated with the time critical dimension of the DTP. Two questions are addressed; first, what sectors are associated with the supply of time-critical logistical support. Second, what is the current state of the potential demand for time-critical logistical support? As limited information is currently available in terms of the key trade actors in the Province and in terms of the motives which underlie the traders decisions, this report does not claim to provide a comprehensive sectoral review of potential demand in the KZN. The emphasis is instead with detailing some issues around key sectors and to explore some of the problems that will have to be addressed in order for the supply of time-critical goods by the exporters to expand and for additional potential exports of such type to actually materialize. References, tables, figures, appendix, 43 p. |