South African fashion retailers boost local production amid port delays
SOUTH African fashion retailers are ramping up local production and using alternative sea ports and air freight to mitigate the impact of congestion at traditional ports that has caused massive delays in stock deliveries, executives told Reuters. State-owned logistics company Transnet said in November the backlogs at the Port of Durban and congestion at Richards Bay were due to factors including under-investment in equipment and maintenance, warning that procuring some of the new equipment could take as long as 12 to 18 months. Although South African fashion retailers have been moving production closer to home, they still rely heavily on…