Minerals boost revenues for Swaziland Railway

Minerals have been good to Swaziland Railway, boosting revenues by 25% from last year, and the conveniently located rail line offering shorter passage from mines to eastern ports has been good for regional mineral transport. A projected cargo tonnage of 6.5 million this year, up a quarter from 2011, is due to the movement of iron ore from Mpaka, Swaziland Railway’s rail head in central Swaziland, to Maputo or Richards Bay. The ore is locally mined, which significantly boosts domestic volumes for a rail system that has previously earned 90% of its revenues from transit cargo. “We expect to move 1.2 million tons for the full year. The iron ore is mined in Ngwenya and has been trucked to Mpaka since March 2012. At first it went straight to Maputo but now another route is to send the ore to Richards Bay, which can accommodate larger vessels than Maputo. Because minerals are raw materials you want to ship in very big vessels to keep unit costs low,” Stephenson Ngubane, acting CEO for Swaziland Railways, told FTW. “It is actually very encouraging because we want Swaziland to be more active in terms of volumes we ship. We have closer control over shipments if the cargo originates locally. Transit traffic originates in other countries. The other railways may find they are short on resources like engines, and this can result in delays,” said Ngubane. However, transit traffic remains the primary utilisation of Swaziland’s rail line, and Ngubane is in constant discussions with rail executives of the countries shipping or receiving minerals via Swaziland Railway, including Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is also a recipient of containerised cargo shipped through Swaziland. CAPTION Rolling stock and containers at Swaziland Railway’s Matsapha depot against a backdrop of misty Mt Mdzimba, sacred burial spot for Swazi royalty.