Nacala the next boom port?

12 Oct 2016 - by Ed Richardson

Nacala is seen by many in

the shipping industry as

the next boom port on

Africa’s eastern seaboard.

The natural deep water harbour

is the closest gateway for Malawi

and eastern Zambia, as well as the

potentially economically booming

north of Mozambique.

There is a market of around

45 million people in the Nacala

corridor.

At present it is the third-busiest

port in Mozambique after Beira and

Maputo.

Nacala port and railway is

concessioned to Portos do Norte

SA, a consortium that includes

the Brazilian mining group Vale

Mozambique.

Its majority shareholder is state

port and rail management company

Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de

Moçambique (CFM).

Funding for the development

of the port has come from Japan,

which has lent a total of

US$380 million to date for the first

two phases of a three-phase upgrade

of the port.

Work has started on Phase 2,

which will include the rehabilitation

of berths number 1 and 2 in the

north terminal, according to the

Portos do Norte website.

Berth number 1 will be dredged to

14 metres and become a dedicated

container quay.

It will have two ship to shore

gantry cranes, and 2.4 hectares of

reclaimed area.

This will be used for warehousing,

a new access road for general cargo

trucks, improved access roads and

gate system for container trucks,

and increased space for container

storage, according to the company.

It is estimated that the

implementation of the project will

triple the port’s capacity to

4 738 000 tons of cargo and

234 000 TEUs by 2019.

On the land side a new rail link

from the Mozambican province

of Tete through Malawi is already

operational and work is being

undertaken on upgrading road links.

Work on the road between Nacala

and Lusaka is scheduled to be

completed by 2018, according to

media reports.

The road between Malawi and

Nacala is also being upgraded.

In July this year the Malawian

Roads Authority announced that

funding had been obtained for Phase

4 of the Nacala Corridor development

project.

This is a 75km stretch from

Liwonde to Mangochi in southern

Malawi. The work is expected to

be completed in mid-2018.

The 707km road from the

border post at Chiponde to Nacala

is a mixture of asphalt and gravel

and is listed as being among the

world’s most spectacular and

dangerous roads.

CAPTION

Capacity to treble by 2019.