Cornelder de Moçambique, the concessionaire of the Port of Beira in Sofala province, central Mozambique, has paid US$500 million to the State over seven years, the company announced yesterday. “[We have paid] almost US$500 million in concession fees and taxes over the last seven years,” said Jan de Vries, Executive Managing Director of Cornelder de Moçambique. Cornelder added that overall it has contributed US$886 million to the Mozambican treasury, in addition to around US$50 million paid annually to local companies for the supply of goods and services.
“Furthermore, we also have contributions outside the port, because many businesses have grown around the port, 20 to 30 dry ports employing thousands of people. We have transport companies with fleets of one to two thousand trucks and thousands of jobs created, so it is a huge catalyst,” said Jan de Vries. According to Cornelder de Moçambique, the concessionaire of the container and general cargo terminals, despite the company’s operational growth, the roads remain a challenge, considering that, for example, there is only a single entry and exit point to the port.
“To improve performance within the port, over the next four years we will invest US$120 million to increase the container terminal capacity to 700,000 TEUs [Twenty-foot Equivalent Units] and five million tonnes of general cargo,” said Jan de Vries, explaining that several projects are already underway to implement the plan. For the container terminal, Cornelder said that “many works” are already in progress, including the construction of 75,000 square metres of paved yard and a new exit complex. Among projects for next year, Cornelder assured it will expand five hectares of the minerals terminal, “which has been a rapidly growing market in recent years, with cargo from Zimbabwe,” and will expand the fertiliser terminal.
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On 12 December, the Mozambican Minister of Transport, João Matlombe, launched construction works for an alternative access road to the Port of Beira and a logistics centre, aimed at decongesting access to avoid cargo diversion to other countries. In August, Cornelder forecasted an investment of 640 million meticais (around US$10 million at current exchange rates) for the modernisation and expansion of infrastructure and acquisition of new equipment.
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