Maputo Port 2022-2043 master plan foresees $1.1 billion investment

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Maputo Port 2022-2043 master plan foresees $1.1 billion investment

4:06 CAT | 11 May 2022

About US$1.1 billion is to be invested in the Port of Maputo, increasing handling capacity from the 22.3 million tonnes registered in 2021 to about 54 million tonnes in 2043. [Photo: O País]

The Port of Maputo, managed by the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), intends to invest US$1.1 billion in its port operations over the next 21 years, the company’s Project Director, Paulo Mate, revealed during the 2022 Port of Maputo Conference in Maputo on Tuesday (10-05).

Speaking during the presentation of the ‘New Port Master Plan, 2022 – 2043’, Mate explained that, of the total investment planned for the next two decades, US$701 million would be dispensed before 2033 and the remaining US$442 million between 2033 and 2043.

“This investment includes all interventions to be carried out in the port’s concession area, both by the MPDC and its sub-concessionaires,” Mate explained.

Mate indicated that the planned investment would allow the expansion of the container terminal to a capacity of up to 0.5 million TEU’s. The relocation of the vegetable oils terminal is also in MPDC’s plans, as is using part of the vehicle terminal for project cargo and simplifying the port rail network, among other projects.

“Based on the high growth scenario, the main investments will consist in the expansion of the container terminal, with volumes above 1.4 million TEUs; a new pier 15-17 (1.2 km long) for dry bulk; a new access rail line to pier 15-17, and provision of an area for establishing a floating power plant to produce energy for the national grid,” Mate detailed.

At the Matola terminal, MPDC plans (in a probable market scenario) to invest in the development of a Liquefied Natural Gas Import Terminal, with a new 4.9 MTPA capacity pier, and expanding the Matola Coal Terminal (TCM) capacity to 12 MTPA and additional fuel berth to 3.7 MTPA.

With regard to cargo handling, MPDC forecasts a growth from the current 22 million tonnes per year, to 54 million by 2043.

The MPDC Project Director also noted that the Port of Maputo has since 2003 expanded its operating area from 140 to 278 hectares.

Paulo Mate justified the establishment of the Company’s New Master Plan with the need to align market conditions and projections and recalibrate the Port’s vision and strategy, reassessing projections of cargo volumes, hinterland market dynamics, port zoning, port technologies and sustainable port development.

The Port of Maputo Master Plan also reassesses existing port infrastructure and capacity, operations, corridors and supporting transport network, as well as aligning plans to expand hinterland connections, including other port terminals outside the concession area.

In his concluding remarks, Mate underlined that, in its 18 years of operations in the Port of Maputo, MPDC has shown strong annual growth in terms of volumes in the order of 10%, with strong concomitant social and economic impact, both in initiatives to promote social inclusion and in economic gains to the government.

By Evaristo Chilingue

Source: Carta de Moçambique