Grindrod buys a piece of Maputo

Matola Coal Terminal to be upgraded TERRY HUTSON DURBAN-BASED shipping and logistics operator Grindrod has acquired a 12.24% share in the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC) for an undisclosed sum. MPDC has been operating the Mozambique port on a 25 year concession since 2002. Grindrod MD Ivan Clark said Grindrod had been positioning itself for concessioning of ports in southern Africa for some time. “The Maputo Port provides an immediate opportunity for us to participate in the development of a port with a natural hinterland and which is an integral part of southern Africa’s freight system.” He said that Grindrod’s South African customers were continually requesting logistics solutions through the Maputo Corridor. “When one considers that our shipping lines - Unicorn, Island View Shipping, and Ocean Africa Container Lines - all call on Maputo, it makes strategic sense for us to participate in the Port of Maputo.” MPDC chairman Ken Wharton of Mersey Docks said of the development: “It is always important to have a local partner who has shipping expertise, the necessary contacts and financial resources to support an important and regionally strategic port like Maputo”. Grindrod also announced a US$25 million(R150m) upgrade of its Matola Coal Terminal facility in Maputo, with the intention of increasing the terminal’s capacity to 6 million tonnes pa. The investment would be made over an unspecified period of time. The terminal currently handles 1.7 million tons per annum.