Mozambique: Nacala Logistics records $23M net loss in Q2 due to pandemic

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Nacala Logistics records $23M net loss in Q2 due to pandemic

3:39 CAT | 21 Aug 2020

File photo: Linkedin

Nacala Logistics, which manages the Mozambican port of Nacala, recorded a net loss of US$23 million (€19.4 million) in the second quarter, the result of the impact of Covid -19, the company said today.

A statement from Nacala Logistics said that the drop in results was due to the reduction in the volume of coal and general cargo transport in the period. During the second quarter, for example, coal transport stood at 1.2 million tonnes, a reduction of around 48% compared to the same period last year.

“The operating and financial results for the second quarter demonstrate precisely the impact that Covid-19 has had on the company,” the note says. “In addition, financial obligations contributed to the negative result.”

However, Nacala Logistics has adjusted to the new reality, working daily to overcome the challenges imposed by the disease, while adopting all the necessary measures to ensure the safety of employees and the communities that live in the vicinity of its operations.

Nacala Logistics financial manager, Bernardo Mattar, said at the release of the results that the company was taking the challenging times as an opportunity to strengthen itself.

“I want to thank all the company’s employees for the dedication and commitment they demonstrate on a daily basis, contributing to the strengthening of Nacala Logistics, even in times as challenging as those that the world is currently going through,” he underlined.

Nacala Logistics is among the companies that comprise the ‘Nacala Corridor’, and operates in the area of rail transport.

In April, the company announced the reduction to one third of the number of passengers and train journeys permitted, with the aim of slowing the spread of Covid-19.

In operation since 2016, the Nacala corridor is a US$4.5 billion (€3.8 billion) investment between the Brazilian multinational Vale, the Japanese conglomerate Mitsui and the Mozambican public company Portos e Caminhos de Ferro of Mozambique [CFM].

The undertaking comprises a 912-kilometre railway, 200 kilometres of which crosses Malawi, and a deep-water port terminal that serves coal mining in Moatize district, Tete province, central Mozambique.

Mozambique had by Thursday (August 20) recorded a cumulative total of 3,115 Covid-19 cases, including 20 deaths and 1,380 (44%) people reported as recovered, latest figures show.

The Covid-19 pandemic has already claimed at least 787,918 lives and infected more than 22.4 million people in 196 countries and territories, according to a report by the French agency AFP.

Source: Lusa