‘Maputo port gains growing recognition’

ALAN PEAT COST-EFFICIENCY dictates the mode of transport when it comes to cross-border shipments, says Ian Strydom, national operations manager of Röhlig Grindrod. Road is usually the first choice for SA’s immediate neighbours, but further north than this southern strip of nations airfreight becomes more applicable, he told FTW. The other alternative is using coastal shipping services, which for Röhlig is particularly applicable for the likes of Cape Town to Angola and countries further up the west coast. On the east coast, the company finds seafreight to be the best alternative for countries north of Mozambique, and up the coast as far as Dar es Salaam. The most noticeable areas of development, according to Strydom, are the countries of Angola and Mozambique. There’s a growing recognition of the port of Maputo in Mozambique for the export of minerals and sugar, with the car industry the latest sector to have started sniffing around, looking for an alternative port for importing knocked down vehicle parts imports and exporting fully-assembled vehicles through the dedicated car terminal in the port. “The port development, under the guidance of MIPS, for example, has been very good,” said Strydom, “and it’s just about time for new shipping services to start calling for the growing volumes of export traffic now transiting the port.”