The port of Maputo in Mozambique is set to receive estimated investments of US$800 million over the next five years, said the chairman of South African company Grindrod Freight Services, Dave Rennie.
Rennie said that the Grindrod navigation group would be responsible for 40 percent of that amount with the Group chairman, Alan Olivier saying that there was a lack of facilities to support the raw materials markets.
Olivier also said that port management company, Companhia de Desenvolvimento do Porto de Maputo, in which Grindrod has a 25 percent stake, had had its concession period extended until 2033 with an option for an additional 10 years.
The more immediate expansion plans include dredging of the port from its current depth of 9.4 metres to 11 metres in order to make it possible for Panamax ships to moor, which will increase the port’s competitiveness in terms of bulk and container cargo.
Olivier said that the dredging work would begin at the start of 2011.
He also said that extending Grindrod’s sub-concession on the Maputo coal terminal to 2043 had already been approved, along with an agreement to increase current capacity from 6 million tons per year to between 16 and 25 million tons per year in 2013.
The new terms of the concession agreement also gave Grindrod additional land that will be used to expand the terminal.
The chairman of the South African group said it had reached an agreement with state company Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique and its partner Dubai Port World for joint development of a container deposit next to the port of Maputo, the first phase of which is due to be concluded in June, 2011.
Rennie said that the Grindrod navigation group would be responsible for 40 percent of that amount with the Group chairman, Alan Olivier saying that there was a lack of facilities to support the raw materials markets.
Olivier also said that port management company, Companhia de Desenvolvimento do Porto de Maputo, in which Grindrod has a 25 percent stake, had had its concession period extended until 2033 with an option for an additional 10 years.
The more immediate expansion plans include dredging of the port from its current depth of 9.4 metres to 11 metres in order to make it possible for Panamax ships to moor, which will increase the port’s competitiveness in terms of bulk and container cargo.
Olivier said that the dredging work would begin at the start of 2011.
He also said that extending Grindrod’s sub-concession on the Maputo coal terminal to 2043 had already been approved, along with an agreement to increase current capacity from 6 million tons per year to between 16 and 25 million tons per year in 2013.
The new terms of the concession agreement also gave Grindrod additional land that will be used to expand the terminal.
The chairman of the South African group said it had reached an agreement with state company Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique and its partner Dubai Port World for joint development of a container deposit next to the port of Maputo, the first phase of which is due to be concluded in June, 2011.