Banana shipment makes history at Maputo

Port expects more Mpumalanga fruit THE DEPARTURE of 45 000 cartons of Mpumalanga bananas from the Port of Maputo to Benghazi in Libya last week marked a milestone for both port and shipper. It's the first time that Maputo has handled a commodity of this nature, and the first time in 50 years that South African bananas have been sold into the export market. Twelve separate growers contributed to the consignment which was shipped aboard the Seatrade Reefer Chartering vessel Aruba. According to Johan du Plessis of Anlin Shipping, agents for Seatrade, the shipment at Maputo went off satisfactorily considering the short lead time involved. The Maputo Produce Terminal moved into full seasonal gear in May with the start of Mpumalanga citrus exports. Du Plessis, who is optimistic about further exports of bananas and fruit from Maputo, says Anlin expects to ship more than 70 000 pallets through Mputo in the current season. King & Sons are port agents for Seatrade/Anlin in Mozambique.