New Maputo rail terminal targets bulk mineral exports

The SA-based Super Group has just opened a rail terminal in Maputo, Mozambique – targeted at the on-site containerisation of bulk mineral export consignments railed in from the mining areas at Steelpoort and Rustenburg in northern SA. “The Mahotas Terminal is slap in the centre of Maputo,” said Super Group’s COO, John Baxter, “astride the rail line that links Moz, SA and Zimbabwe.” A 5 000m2 slab has just been laid in the terminal, allowing the location of a container handler capable of lifting both 20-foot (6-m) and 40-ft (12-m) boxes. Straddling the rail siding is an excavator on stilts – allowing wagons to be wheeled in underneath the unit for off-loading. The terminal also boasts a conveyor system for loading from the hopper directly into containers, and three forklifts for general handling tasks. A truck and trailers and a tractor are also available to move the containers around. “The railway line also links with the port,” said Baxter, “from where we get empty containers from Mozambique International Port Services (Mips), which we return to the port for shipment after they have been loaded.” The Super Group is also targeting mineral cargoes from Zambia, with the majority of the products to be bulked in by rail to the terminal.