DP World’s Maputo container terminal handled a record 18 335 TEUs in September – beating the previous record of 17 960 set the month before. The previous record of 16 500 was set in December 2010, according to Mark Neel, the terminal’s general manager commercial. There had been a 45% growth in container volumes since DP World started refurbishing and upgrading the Maputo terminal, he told FTW. Containerised mineral exports have increased from around 300 to 1 000 boxes a month. The commodity is transported in bulk and packed in Maputo, mainly in the Maputo Intermodal Container Depot (MICD), which is a joint venture between DP World and Grindrod. “The infrastructure is now in place and our focus is on providing good service. We have, for example, reduced the truck turnaround time to 23 minutes,” he said. Rail is also “working nicely” thanks to the addition of a rail yard in the terminal. Shipping lines had taken note of the growing volumes and increased the size of vessels calling on Maputo, he said. MPDC is working on reducing the cost of calling on Maputo by reducing or suspending certain charges for vessels. “In August MPDC cut the cost of calling on Maputo by 30%. “Our landside costs have also been reduced. We believe we offer a competitive value proposition to other container terminals serving the region,” he says. A bank of reefer points is already in place to handle citrus exports. “There will be a shortage of capacity in the region when new plantings come to fruit in the next two years. Our investment shows that we are here for the long term,” says Neel. On the cards are the strengthening, lengthening and deepening of the quayside in order to cater for larger vessels and to make it possible to use modern ship-to-shore gantry cranes to replace the existing mobile harbour cranes.
We have reduced the truck turnaround time to 23 minutes. – Mark Neel
