(4 minutes read)
· A new inland transit facility between South Africa and Mozambique has been built
· The new facility could slash transport time between the Maputo port and the region’s industrial and business hub
· Durban harbor handles 69% of South Africa’s maritime imports
A new inland transit facility between South Africa and Mozambique has been built. The new facility could slash transport time between the Maputo port and the region’s industrial and business hub.
The Dubai based DP World’s new dry port depot in Komatipoort, a town on South Africa’s eastern border with Mozambique, operates as a bonded container facility. It allows shippers to clear customs quicker when they arrive from the Maputo port that’s a 100-kilometre (62-mile) drive away. A container can reach the Gauteng province from Johannesburg and capital, Pretoria, within a day of it arriving in Maputo.
Durban harbor handles 69% of South Africa’s maritime imports. It has struggled to meet demand and cut transit times. The inbound containers spend an average of three days in the port, and those for export almost double that time.
South Africa plans to invest 100 billion rand (US$7.4 billion) over the next decade to increase Durban’s container handling capacity to more than 11 million units a year from 2.9 million units. DP World’s Maputo container terminal has cost US$100 million over the last five years, and the company will further invest US$130 million.
The DP World also will develop Komatipoort dry port depot and build rail infrastructure that will allow it to transport containers by train from Maputo into South Africa within a year or two. This will further reduce the shipment time between Komatipoort and the neighboring places and reduce risks of shipments getting caught in congestion at the border.
