{"id":823734,"date":"2025-05-12T10:40:53","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T08:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=823734"},"modified":"2025-05-12T10:40:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T08:40:59","slug":"expect-more-big-trucks-on-south-africas-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/823734\/expect-more-big-trucks-on-south-africas-roads\/","title":{"rendered":"Expect more big trucks on South Africa’s roads"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South African fuel suppliers are looking to use trucks to transport the commodity inland as the cost of using the nation\u2019s main pipeline operated by Transnet SOC Ltd. surges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa granted state-owned Transnet an 8.7% tariff increase effective April 1 on the line that runs from the coastal city of Durban to the Gauteng province, where the commercial hub of Johannesburg is located. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prices will increase another 5.7% in the next financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trucking fuel \u201cjust makes sense, it\u2019s quicker, the cost is almost the same,\u201d Avhapfani Tshifularo, chief executive of Fuels Industry Association of South Africa, a lobby group whose members include BP Plc, Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE, said in an interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe tariff is going to keep on increasing because the volumes are dropping.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transnet is trying to turn around its logistics operations, from rail to ports, after years of graft and mismanagement hollowed the business out. The growing appeal of transporting fuel by road comes as Africa\u2019s most industrialized nation becomes more dependent on imports because of declining refining capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTransnet Pipelines notes the concerns raised regarding increasing logistics costs in the inland fuel supply chain,\u201d the company said in a reply to questions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study is being concluded on fuel consumption, demand forecasts, and infrastructure constraints, \u201cwith the ultimate goal of identifying actionable levers to grow pipeline volumes and reduce long-term logistics costs,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fuel sent through the pipeline from Durban still needs to be trucked the last stretch to its final destination at a total cost that\u2019s about a third higher than transporting it exclusively by road, Daan Joubert, managing director of Auto Commodities and Payloads, which includes fuel and logistics businesses, said by phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lower pipeline tariffs \u201ccould boost the economy, especially inland, due to reduced fuel pricing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 555-kilometer multi-product pipeline was upgraded in 2012 to ensure inland fuel supply could be met and lower the number of trucks on the road to reduce traffic congestion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transnet\u2019s refined volumes have declined in the last five years and it missed targets by 11% in 2024, according to its annual report. That occurred even as revenue rose for the pipeline unit during the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the line has transported about 85% of the total inland provincial market over the past five years, according to Transnet. Fluctuating volumes on the pipeline reflect broader market dynamics including shifting consumption patterns and imports, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tshifularo said slow economic growth has already dented diesel demand, and gasoline usage will also decline as vehicles become more efficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consumption of both fuels has dropped to the lowest level since 2020 in South Africa, according to the lobby group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African fuel suppliers are looking to use trucks to transport the commodity inland as the cost of using the nation\u2019s main pipeline operated by Transnet surges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":823738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[2138],"class_list":["post-823734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-transnet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":823739,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823734\/revisions\/823739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}