New inland mineral terminal

23 Oct 2013 - by Ed Richardson

An inland minerals loading and storage
facility will take some of the pressure
off the port of Maputo and open up
new opportunities for exporters in
Mpumalanga, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
The FPT Mineral Terminal was opened
in Matola outside Maputo in the beginning
of October 2013. “The terminal will pack
minerals into containers and deliver these in
the port of Maputo for exports,” says Dawie
Ferreira, chief executive officer of the
Capespan logistics division and managing
director of FPT.
Capespan has been involved in
Mozambique since 1996 when the
company bought Matola Cargo
Terminal (MCT) also known as “Frigo”
in Matola and the Mozambique
Produce Terminal (MPT) in the port of
Maputo.
The company is also supporting other
plans to help improve the flow of cargo.
“There is a growing requirement
for efficient supply chain management
solutions. High costs are driven by
inefficiencies (waste) in the supply
chain. This really means that the
dwell times have to be reduced.
“It is widely known that the
customs operations will move to the
border at Resanno Garcia as part of
the one-stop border post initiative.
MCT is part of the consortium that
will build and manage the new
road terminal. This is likely to start
operating early in 2014,” he says.
Capespan is also “continuously
looking at expanding our service
offering and is currently considering
opportunities in the central and
northern parts of Mozambique”.
“I believe that the two Capespan
companies, MCT and FPT, are
well-positioned to explore these
opportunities and unlock true value
for our customers,” says Ferreira.
Services provided by the company
currently include the handling of
citrus through the port of Maputo
in reefer containers; transport for
“a number of blue chip” companies;
and warehousing and distribution
for companies such as British
American Tobacco, Unilever, CDM
(SAB in Mozambique), and Coca-
Cola.
“We are very active in the
material handling market and are
the agent for Toyota Forklifts in
Mozambique,” adds Ferreira.
MCT also provides support to the
Mozambican customs department
in the Matola terminal.
“Mozambique has made good
progress and I believe that we
will experience continued good
economic growth. Logistical
solution seems to be one of the
major challenges in Africa to unlock
the potential,” he says.