The volumes handled by the Port of Maputo last year fell by 13 percent compared to 2019, with 18.3 million tonnes handled compared to 21 million tonnes in the same period.
This reduction is mainly attributed to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and measures taken to contain its spread, including the closure of borders, the South African ‘lockdown’ between March and April 2020 and restrictions on the operation of the border throughout the year.
The executive director of the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), Osório Lucas, said meanwhile that the volume of chromium and ferro-chromium railroads had seen remarkable growth of 33 percent when compared to 2019.
“There has been a growing trend in handling chromium and ferro-chromium in recent years, as it reflects efficiency measures taken by the port and rail operators, namely CFM and Transnet. The pandemic has also given a positive boost to the migration of bulk ores, chromium and ferro-chromium from road to rail, with the road/rail freight ratio growing from 20 percent in 2019 to 25 percent of total volumes handled in 2020,” he said.
According to the source, despite the slight drop in the volume handled and the financial contingency measures that the company had to adopt, MPDC “maintained its commitment to invest in expansion and rehabilitation of port infrastructure.
“Such investments were made in 2020 in the project to rehabilitate the wharf, deepen the wharf to 16 metres, expand the bunkers for minerals and increase rail capacity. All these projects are currently being completed and will be delivered in the second half of 2021,” he said.
Osório Lucas also assured that the challenges posed by the pandemic “also paved the way for the implementation of automation solutions to improve port traffic management”.
“Information technology applications created internally in 2020 now allow the port to have full visibility of the road corridor, thus improving efficiency in the application of material and human resources,” he stressed.
For the current year, the Port of Maputo foresees a recovery resulting, still according to the source, from the investment in port infrastructure and technological solutions.
It should be noted that MPDC is a company resulting from the partnership between the Mozambique Railways (CFM) and Portus Indico, to whom the government granted the Maputo Port concession. The company holds the rights to finance, rehabilitate, construct, operate, manage, maintain, develop and optimise the entire concession area. The Port Authority is also responsible for maritime operations, towing, stevedoring, terminal and warehouse operations, as well as port planning and development.
