By: OrePulse

South Africa's eight commercial ports handled 26.19 million tonnes of cargo in September 2026, down from 29.17 million tonnes in September 2025, according to data from the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA).

Container volumes across the ports fell to 460,203 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) from 484,228 TEU a year earlier. Ship calls declined to 890 vessels from 936, with combined gross tonnage of 30,653,397 gross tons compared with 33,777,664 gross tons in September 2025.

Motor vehicle handling, measured on a roll-on/roll-off basis, totaled 100,952 units in September, down from 114,484 units the previous year. Of this total, 56,779 units were imports and 34,565 were exports, with the remainder attributed to transshipment.

Durban remained the busiest port by cargo tonnage, handling 7.522 million tonnes, followed by Richards Bay with 6.869 million tonnes and Saldanha Bay with 6.670 million tonnes. Ngqura handled 2.242 million tonnes, Cape Town 1.565 million tonnes, Port Elizabeth 1.164 million tonnes, East London 122,000 tonnes and Mossel Bay 37,000 tonnes.

In container traffic, Durban accounted for 258,901 TEU, the largest share among the eight ports, followed by Ngqura with 90,362 TEU and Cape Town with 85,002 TEU. Port Elizabeth handled 20,517 TEU, while East London, Saldanha Bay and Richards Bay recorded smaller volumes of 285, 37 and 1 TEU, respectively.

For vehicle units, Durban again led with 80,158 units, followed by Port Elizabeth with 17,204 units and East London with 3,550 units. Cape Town recorded 40 units, while Richards Bay handled none.

By ship calls, Durban recorded 266 vessel arrivals with a combined gross tonnage of 9,570,098 gross tons. Richards Bay logged 152 calls totaling 5,871,903 gross tons, and Cape Town recorded 189 calls at 4,725,739 gross tons. Saldanha Bay saw 58 calls at 3,881,330 gross tons, Ngqura 75 calls at 3,141,198 gross tons, Port Elizabeth 76 calls at 2,500,620 gross tons, Mossel Bay 53 calls at 81,468 gross tons and East London 21 calls at 881,041 gross tons.

The year-on-year declines in cargo, container and vessel-call volumes continue a pattern of reduced throughput at South Africa's ports in 2026 compared with the prior year. TNPA oversees commercial port operations at all eight terminals included in the monthly statistics.