The port of Beira is claiming
that Zimbabwean exporters
and importers can save 30%
or more on transport costs by
using the port in preference to
Durban.
“Zimbabwe is losing a lot
of money by using the longer
route to Durban instead
of Beira which is 559km
away from Harare. There is
always a cost per kilometre,”
Cornelder marketing director
Felix Machadu is reported
to have told a stakeholder
workshop in Zimbabwe late
in 2014.
Cornelder, which operates
the port of Beira, plans to
continue investing in the
port in order to improve
efficiencies.
Forwarders and freight
companies interviewed in
Zimbabwe by FTW all agreed
that volumes through the port
were increasing and that it
was becoming more efficient.
Volumes are, however, way
off their peak of 600 trucks a
day – the throughput before
the port went into decline
during the Mozambican civil
war.
Cornelder took over
the running of the port in
October 1998.
It is estimated that the
route accommodates 100
trucks a day out of Zimbabwe
at present.
INSERT & CAPTION
Zimbabwe is losing a
lot of money by using
the longer route to
Durban instead of
Beira.
– Felix Machadu
