Maputo, Mozambique, 26 Jan – Multinational consortium Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC) plans to invest US$750 million by 2043 in order to increase the cargo processing capacity of the port of Maputo, Jorge Ferraz, the chief executive of the consortium said Tuesday.

The MPDC consortium is majority-owned by South African company Grindrod, and DP World, of the United Arab Emirates, with 51 percent, and by Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM), the Mozambican state company responsible for the country’s rail and port systems, with 49 percent.

Jorge Ferraz also said that as a result of the investments that the shareholders were planning, the cargo processing capacity is expected to exceed 8.7 million tons per year in 2043, the year in which the extension on the Port of Maputo concession to the MPDC consortium is due to end.

The access channel and the docks at the grain, fuel, coal and container terminals at the port of Maputo underwent dredging, which ended Tuesday and increased their depth by 1.6 metres. They can now receive Panamax-type ships with an 80,000 ton capacity.

Before this clean up, which removed around 2 million cubic metres of sediment and a further 50,000 cubic metres of rocks, capacity was limited to ships carrying up to 50,000 tons.

The dredging work, which cost US$20 million and included widening the access channel, began in September 2010 and was finished Tuesday, with the formal hand over of the project by the contractor.

Most of the cargo that passes through the ports of Maputo and Matola is made up of coal, iron-chromium, containers, sugar and fruit. These products are sent to markets such as India and China, whose economies are showing clear growth. (macauhub)