BUSINESS
because there are other challenges. The
company has to get sufficient quantity
of material moved to port in a small
window of time because the company
does not have a facility at the port where
it can store blocks for shipping abroad.
Finstone, until the late-1990s, used to
have use of such a facility at Durban
Port, with a rail line directly to it and
sufficient capacity to accumulate material
ahead of the arrival of a ship, as well as
the correct equipment (gantry cranes)
for handling granite blocks. However,
that port area is now dedicated to car
exports, and granite exports were shifted
to Richard’s Bay — which does not
have such facilities, despite these being
promised for many years by Transnet.
“If we had such a facility — and we
are prepared to build and maintain one
on behalf of Transnet — we could send
blocks down on a continual basis and
store them until a ship arrives. We’ve
been talking to the Ports Authority to no
avail for 15 years now about acquiring
appropriate land. More recently, we
have been dealing with Transnet Port
Terminals (TPT), which operates the
terminals and whose operating costs, like
“In tandem with the decline
in export volumes, in 2005,
Finstone employed 1 650
people compared to 550 in
the group today.”
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), are way out
of line with international norms.
“In terms of operating efficiency, in
Brazil, for instance, we load 10 000t in
12–16 hours. Here, we are loading about
2 500t/day. Vessel hire is expensive,
and when one is delayed in port, the
ship owner will charge for that delay.
For example, we ship material from
Brazil to Xiamen in China at USD20/
tonne cheaper than from Richard’s Bay
to China, which is half the distance,”
explains Ashmole. “It’s to do with port
efficiencies.”
TPT has purchased the wrong
equipment for the application: heavy-
duty forklifts are used for both unloading
and transporting the extremely heavy
granite blocks. Not only are these far
more expensive to acquire and operate
than gantry cranes, but a far larger
footprint is required to store a given
volume. Finstone’s quarries and stations
have gantries, as does every major stone
port in the world — but not the Port
of Richard’s Bay. Forklifts also tend to
occasionally chip the blocks, meaning
a discount has to be given to the buyer
as the rectangular shape is reduced.
Gantries, or cranes, are more efficient,
require less labour, and are less costly.
Whereas with gantry cranes, practically
any type of wagon can be used. The use
of forklifts necessitates the use of rail
wagons with doors that can be opened
(or removed entirely) to offload blocks —
this puts huge pressure on TFR to supply
the few wagons that are amenable to
offloading.
Ashmole says Finstone has initiated
repeated meetings with TPT and TFR
to discuss a prime location that the
company has identified at Richard’s
Bay — so far, to no avail. “We’ve told
TPT that we’re willing to pay for and
build the infrastructure, but we’d like to
run it ourselves for greater efficiency.”
In tandem with the decline in export