The Port of Maputo is fast gaining ground as a viable option for the shipment of citrus, with several growers and their export agents having committed to a number of containers a week, enticing CMA CGM to place a ship a week.
“Most described developments in Maputo to be likened to the ‘chicken or the egg’ scenario,” said Citrus Growers’ Association logistics development manager Mitchell Brooke. “Should growers wait for the ships, or should shipping lines wait for the cargo? Well, it seems as though the chicken has arrived and the egg has hatched.”
Reefer containers are already on the ground, passed by PPECB, waiting to load.
The immediate focus, he said, was on exports to Far East countries that did not require cold treatment or precooling as the containers would be packed ambient from a facility in Maputo.
Efforts are, however, under way to possibly ship cold-treatment containers to China as well this year.
A Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development-approved inspection point is being prepared as well as PPECB approval of a cold treatment facility in Malelane – this to be preapproved by Chinese authorities first.
At the start limited containers are being planned for 2022, but should the system work it could pave the way for more exports later in the year and be the stepping stone for future expansion of the Maputo corridor.
