(Source: www.iol.co.za)
The port of Maputo in Mozambique has reduced its tariffs, which has made Grindrod’s car terminal more competitive when compared with South African ports. Grindrod’s car terminal in Maputo is a competitor to Transnet’s car terminal facilities in Durban and Port Elizabeth.
Alan Olivier, the chief executive of Grindrod, said last week that Maputo port was a US dollar-based facility while South African ports were rand-based facilities, which made it quite expensive for vehicle original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). “The [tariff] cost will reduce, which should allow more cost effective throughput (in) Maputo,” he said.
Olivier said volumes through Grindrod’s car terminal in Maputo dropped by 42 percent in the six months to June compared with the prior corresponding period and 17 063 vehicles had been moved through the terminal year-to-date. “It’s a very disappointing reduction in volumes. It’s [caused by] the state of the local market to a large extent,” he said.
Olivier added that one of the challenges Grindrod had in Maputo was that all the vehicles were transported in and out of Maputo by road and it did not have balanced trade going in and out of the port, which meant they ended up with “a dead leg” on the return leg and made the service expensive. He said Grindrod was looking to secure new contracts for the car terminal and there was possibly scope to bring in the many second-hand cars that were imported into Africa. (article by Roy Cokayne)
