Grindrod revs up car terminal expansion plans

Grindrod has pushed the “start” button on plans to expand the Maputo Car Terminal following a repositioning of the facility, according to Pieter Venter, executive of Grindrod Mozambique. The Grindrod Maputo car terminal covers 34 757 sqm and came into operation in November 2007. Phase 1 has a capacity to park about 1 455 cars, and an annual throughput capacity of 52 000 cars. This has already been exceeded, with the terminal making use of parking space on the quayside to accommodate up to 3 500 additional vehicles at a time – depending on their size and configuration. Work has started on expanding the capacity to an effective five thousand bays in order to “accommodate current business and what we have in the pipeline,” he says. The car terminal, which Grindrod operates in partnership with Höegh Autoliners, was initially intended to serve the Gauteng market. Following slow uptake from Gauteng-based original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and importers, the operators “changed our business model. Now our main focus is on transhipment cargo and the local Mozambican market,” he says. There is a steady flow of “high and heavy” equipment for the rapidly expanding mining industry in Mozambique and neighbouring countries, while the two main shipping lines using the port – Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Höegh – also use it as a transhipment hub for both new and used vehicles bound for west and east Africa and the Middle East. Upgrades to the port allow three ro-ro vessels or pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) to call at a time, and there are now up to 20 calls a month on Maputo by car carriers and ro-ro vessels, he says. “We have huge capacity in terms of vessels. So, if a line asks whether we can handle a shipment of 300 vehicles at short notice, the answer is ‘yes we can.’ We are very flexible, and open to talking to anybody,” he says. The terminal handles the loading and unloading itself using its own team of drivers which it has trained. “Their training is part of our social programme. We have helped the drivers develop their skills set beyond that needed in the terminal,” he says. Many work as drivers in Maputo when not loading vessels. Maputo is expected to handle 52 000 vehicles in 2012 – having started at three thousand in the first year of operation. Having taken the risk to build the terminal, Grindrod was under a lot of pressure to convert the space to bulk storage, but the company’s decision to retain the terminal and look to new markets has paid off. Gauteng-destined transhipments now make up only a small percentage of the volumes, despite the advantages Maputo offers for Gautengbased vehicle importers and exporters, says Venter. CAPTION 1 Aerial view of the Grindrod Maputo car terminal, with the city of Maputo in the background. CAPTION 2 Pieter Venter ... focus on transhipment cargo and the local Mozambican market