Maputo port set for another record tonnage this year

"We were looking to ship 20Mt this year‚ but the derailment and flooding that disrupted train shipments in the first half of the year meant that we lost 2Mt in potential tonnage shipped. In the first nine months we shipped 12.5Mt and apart from the rail-dependent bulk coal and magnetite operations‚ we are running above target‚" he said.

After achieving the record tonnage in 1972‚ the port steadily lost custom as about 90% of its throughput is from SA‚ so for most of the period from 1975 to 1992‚ when the civil war ended‚ annual tonnage hovered around only 1Mt.

In 2003‚ the port was concessioned and the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC)‚ in which private sector operators such as Grindrod‚ DP World and local partner Mozambique Gestores hold 51%‚ while the remaining 49% is held by state-owned railway and ports operator‚ CFM‚ was formed.

Large infrastructure investment

At that stage annual tonnage was 3Mt‚ but the establishment of aluminium smelter Mozal by BHP Billition rapidly increased tonnage. Mozal in the first nine months of this year was responsible for 1.4Mt of throughput.

At the start of the concession period‚ the forecast investment was going to be US$56m. Instead‚ demand has grown to such an extent as Maputo offers a shorter route to port from exporters from Mpumalanga and Gauteng than going to Durban or Richards Bay that investment has risen to US$311m.

The current Port Master Plan to 2033 now envisages investment of US$1.8bn. In the next two years US$355m of this will be spent‚ so total capacity will increase to 30Mt and after the expansion of the Matola bulk minerals terminal by late 2017‚ the total port capacity will be 40Mt.

Maputo Port is split into four main sections. These are a road-supplied (with the ability to take rail shipments as well) general cargo that shipped 4.7Mt in the first nine months with products such a ferro-alloys‚ nickel‚ and citrus.

The second section is mostly the rail-dependent Matola bulk minerals terminal‚ which handled 4.4Mt‚ while the third section is the Mozal‚ fuel and grains terminal that handled 2Mt.

The final section is the car and container terminal. The car terminal handled 80‚427 units‚ while the container section handled 75‚595 units in the first nine months.

Rapid growth

"I came to Maputo in March 2012 and I am amazed at how fast we have grown in the past few months despite the challenges in the first half of this year. Part of that is due to the spirit of co-operation we have within our team and all our stakeholders so that we improve operational efficiency.

"A major part of that improvement is also due to the government allowing 38 commodities‚ which are essentially in transit from SA to export destinations‚ to be decaled bonded goods‚ so that eliminates some of the paper work. We also have non-intrusive scanning machines that process containers at speed‚ while still maintaining safety and security in line with best international practice‚" Botha said.

The next major project to improve efficiency is to turn the main border post linking SA and Mozambique into a 24-hour single-stop operation. Currently the border post closes at midnight and re-opens at 6am.

"We had a pilot test of a 24-hour operation over the Easter weekend and that showed the kind of demand there was and the boost to tourism and exports such an operation would have. We are hoping that a 24-hour operation can be implemented early next year‚" he said.