Rail key to growth of Maputo and Matola Ports

Efficient and cost-effective rail links are key to allowing the Maputo and Matola ports to contribute fully to regional economic growth, according to Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC) chief operating officer Gerhard Botha. His warning is echoed by a number of shippers and logistics companies either using Maputo, or wanting to ship through the port. The benefits will be felt beyond Mozambique. Having an efficient corridor in an out of Maputo will open up economic opportunities for Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, they tell FTW. The port ships ferrochrome and chrome ore from Zimbabwe, Steelpoort and Lydenburg; coal from Hwangwe, Botswana, the Waterberg and Limpopo; magnetite from Phalaborwa; iron ore and sugar from Swaziland; and containers from all neighbouring countries. Far-reaching plans to deepen the channel, strengthen and deepen the berths and expand the container and bulk handling facilities in the port are in the pipe-line with the first phase of construction starting early 2013. Maputo has become predominantly a bulk port, and rail is needed to carry the higher volumes it will be able to handle. “We need rail. Our goal is to reach 40 million tons of cargo a year by 2020,” he says. The predicted volume for 2012 is 15 million tons. “We are now back to the 1972 volumes. The port experienced 300% growth between 2003 and 2012,” he says. Some 85% of the cargo is carried by road. A steady stream of 800-900 road trucks a day delivers or picks up cargo in the port, and the road infrastructure is being upgraded to handle this traffic. But road is not suitable for bulk, and the existing infrastructure is being destroyed by the heavy traffic. The port authorities are working with Transnet Freight Rail and its Mozambican counterpart CFM to address the problem. Botha welcomes plans for a strategic rail link with 50-ton minimum axle loading from Ermelo utilising the Buhrmanskop – Lothair branch line to connect with the Swaziland rail network, and from there into CFM and Maputo. Construction is scheduled to start in 2013, according to Cleopatra Shiceka, executive manager of the office of the chief executive officer of Transnet Freight Rail. She was speaking at the Maputo Port Conference earlier this year. CFM chairman Rosário Mualeia told the conference that the upgrading of the Ressano Garcia line from South Africa to Maputo to handle more than 20 million tons a year was one of the investment projects on which the company was working. The Limpopo line serving Zimbabwe and Zambia is also due for upgrading and strengthening. CAPTION Gerhard Botha ... ‘efficient corridor will open opportunities.’