Mozambique’s Port of Beira has experienced a 58% year-on-year increase in container handling between January and May 2024, moving 161,000 containers compared to 102,000 during the same period in 2023.
This significant growth was reported by Jan de Vries, CEO of Cornelder de Moçambique, the concession company managing the port.
According to Agência de Informação de Moçambique (AIM), the port’s general cargo terminal also saw a rise in activity, handling 1.6 million tonnes of cargo, up from 1.4 million tonnes in the first half of 2023.
These figures directly refute claims made by Felix Machado, head of the Beira Trade Association, who alleged that Beira had lost over 500,000 tonnes of cargo to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam this year alone.
AIM noted that some Mozambican media outlets uncritically repeated Machado’s claims without seeking a response from Cornelder.
Jan de Vries highlighted that the improvements in cargo handling are due to the completion of the first phase of the mineral terminal’s rehabilitation, the acquisition of modern equipment, and the implementation of state-of-the-art technology and skilled human resources.
Cornelder also achieved a productivity record in chrome handling, with a daily average of 14,446 tonnes—a 40% improvement over the previous record of 10,400 tonnes per day.
This productivity boost is attributed to substantial investments in ore handling capacity. The newly constructed mineral terminal now includes four hectares of storage space for various bulk and bagged ores, enabling more efficient operations.
De Vries also emphasized the port’s growing appeal to new intercontinental shipping lines, supported by consistent improvements and favorable data from the World Bank’s Container Port Performance Index.
To meet the increasing demand from hinterland countries, Cornelder has planned further investments for 2024, including the removal of an old warehouse to create nearly four hectares of new park space. The company also plans to acquire four new modern cranes as part of its ongoing infrastructure modernization.
De Vries mentioned that a recent engineering study confirmed the port’s capacity to accommodate cranes capable of servicing ships that transport up to 10,000 containers in a single voyage.
Despite these advancements, De Vries acknowledged the challenges posed by outdated road infrastructure, which has struggled to keep pace with the port’s growth.
He called for greater coordination between the government, private sector, and municipality to address these constraints and improve the flow of cargo in and out of the Port of Beira.
