In February, the government of Mozambique extended Maputo Port Development Company’s (MPDC) concession to operate the Port of Maputo by 25 years from 2033, when its existing concession was due to expire. The move seems designed to enable the operator to expand port operations in the knowledge that it will have plenty of time to recoup its outlay.

MPDC is owned by DP World, South African logistics firm Grindrod, the state-owned transport utility Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM), and private firm Mozambique Gestores. It has operated the port since 2003, initially under a 15-year concession, which has been repeatedly extended.

A total investment of US$2.06B is planned in the port, with US$600M by MPDC over the next three years. This will partly be used to extend the container terminal. MPDC will increase the container terminal’s handling capacity from 350,000 TEU/year to 1M TEU/year and the general cargo terminal’s capacity to 13.6 Mtpa, although the timetable seems uncertain. The container terminal’s berths are to be dredged to 16m, the number of reefer points increased from 450 to 800, the number of rubber-tyred gantry cranes increased from six to 24, and the size of the container park doubled to 30 ha. In addition, Grindrod plans to raise Matola Coal Terminal’s (MCT) capacity to 18 Mtpa.

Most of the expansion seems designed to handle South African cargo, including fruit and coal. Periodic congestion at South African container terminals makes Maputo an attractive alternative, particularly as it is geographically closer to South Africa’s industrial and manufacturing heartland around Johannesburg than the Port of Durban. In addition, MCT solely handles South African coal, with Mozambican coal shipped out of the ports of Nacala and Beira much further north. Maputo handled a record 31.2 Mt last year, including 25 Mt of dry bulk such as coal, ferrochrome, magnetite, and copper.

CEO Osório Lucas commented: “The handling of these cargoes reflects the diversification strategy on which the Port of Maputo has focused in recent years.”

The N4 highway from South Africa to the port has been affected by congestion as port volumes have increased, with around 1,500 trucks entering the port each day. However, a truck management park opened at Pessene in November to tackle delays around the port, while customs procedures at the border are being streamlined.

Rail investment

The proportion of cargo transported to the port by rail increased sharply from 30.6% in 2022 to 39% last year.

“The sustainable growth of the transportation corridor continues to be a concern for MPDC. Although there is growth in rail handling, demand for the port has grown exponentially and so we will continue to work with CFM to seek a better balance between rail and road cargo,” said Lucas.

CFM has set a target of achieving 45% rail transport, but without an apparent target date. The African Development Bank (AfDB) is helping to finance improvements to the main South Africa-Mozambique railway across the Lebombo/Ressano Garcia border crossing to Maputo. The multilateral signed off on a US$40M loan in February and aims to mobilise another US$30M from other lenders. Some of the money will be used to purchase ten diesel-electric locomotives, 300 rail wagons, and 120 tank containers, plus an associated three-year maintenance programme.

In a statement, the AfDB said the project would: “strengthen intra-African trade and regional integration by increasing capacity and the volume of goods transported from neighbouring countries by the most efficient route, with Mozambique serving its neighbouring countries of South Africa, Eswatini, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Zambia”.

The railway accounts for 70% of all rail traffic in Mozambique and 90% of cargo carried on the line goes to or from the port.

Nacala also benefits

The northern Mozambique port of Nacala broke its cargo handling record in 2023. The volume shipped increased from 2.7 Mt in 2022 to 3.1 Mt last year, although the port now has 10 Mtpa handling capacity as a result of investment by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). These figures do not include cargoes handled by the adjacent coal port of Nacala-a-Velha on the opposite side of the bay.

Nacala is served by the Nacala Logistics Corridor (NLC) railway that runs west into Malawi and then back into Mozambique to the Tete Province coal mines. It appears that Nacala is benefitting from South Africa’s difficulties because Malawian traders are switching their business from Durban to the Mozambican port. Brazilian mining firm Vale sold the NLC to Vulcan Minerals, an offshoot of India’s Jindal Group, in early 2022 for US$270M.