Dredging of Beira injects new dose of optimism

Mozambique’s port of Beira
is aiming to become the
“Rotterdam of southern
Africa” following the dredging of
the approach channel and port.
Marketing and sales manager
Félix Machado says the dredging
– completed in July 2011 – has had
an immediate positive spin-off for
Beira and neighbouring countries.
“We are already attracting new
investments in agriculture, as well
as manufacturing and distribution,”
he told FTW.
Adding value in the port city
rather than focusing solely on transit
cargo is where Beira stands out
from other southern African ports.
The dredging of the port has
injected a new dose of optimism
and energy into the city’s business
community.
Adding to the sentiment is the
opening up of a number of mega
coal mines in the Tete province
– the biggest of which are owned
by Brazilian company Vale, and a
partnership between Tata of India
and the Australian mining company
Riverside. Other companies
developing projects in the region
include Eurasian Natural Resources
Corporation, Coal India, Jindal
Steel and Power, and Beacon Hill
Resources.
Riverside’s first coal exports
have already been loaded at Beira,
and a new coal terminal is under
construction.
Container and breakbulk traffic
will benefit from the coal terminal
because it will generate the volumes
and revenues required to keep the
channels open. A maintenance
dredger has been acquired by
the port, and further investment
is planned by Cornelder de
Mozambique (CdM), the publicprivate
partnership which has
been running the port since
October 1998.
CdM is a joint venture between
the Mozambique Ports and
Railways Company (33%), and
Cornelder Holdings, which is based
in Rotterdam, Holland.
Machado says the revival of the
port is attracting other investors as
well. They include a Nestlé plant,
cotton processing, textiles, the
building of steel trailers, a paper
plant, milling companies, fertiliser
blending facilities and reefer
handling facilities.
Most of this investment centres
around the revival of agriculture
in Mozambique itself, as well as
neighbouring Zimbabwe, Zambia,
Malawi, the Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC) and Kenya.
Beira has become the centre point
for the importation and blending
of fertilisers for the farming
operations, as well as the export
gateway for the produce.
Cornelder is gearing itself for
the doubling of volumes from the
1.29 million tons of general cargo
and 105 000 TEUs handled in
2010, says Machado. The container
terminal will be able to handle up to
400 000 TEUs a year, he says.
All operations in the port are
computerised, and the harbour is
fully ISPS compliant.
Two post-Panamax gantry cranes
are on order, while the two existing
gantry cranes have been completely
refurbished.
Dedicated sugar and tobacco
terminals are being planned, and the
port is being reconfigured in order
to improve efficiencies.
To accommodate new tobacco
exports from the Tete province,
leaf from Malawi, as well as the
resurgence of the Zimbabwean
industry, a new break-bulk
warehouse has been built in
the port.
A new 30 000-ton grain terminal
was opened in 2010, and this
capacity is expected to be doubled
by 2015.
Cornelder has also invested in a
new fleet of reach stackers, terminal
tractors and other equipment to
improve efficiencies within the port.