DP World Gets 25-Year Lease Extension at Mozambique's Port of Maputo
Mozambique has approved an extra 25-year extension on the lease of the country’s main Port of Maputo to the operator consortium led by DP World and South Africa’s Grindrod Ltd. The group, which also includes Mozambique’s state-owned railway operator, is called Maputo Port Development Society (MPDC).
The port concession was initially scheduled to run until 2033 but will now expire in 2058 to allow further expansion of the port infrastructure, according to a statement by the Council of Ministers.
In line with this, the government also approved a $2 billion investment plan to cater for the port expansion. In the recent past, Maputo Port has seen an uptick in cargo handling, especially due to port and rail delays in neighboring South Africa.
During the last year, Maputo Port handled a record volume of 31 million tons of cargo, up more than 16 percent compared to 2022. Around 25 million tons constituted various ore exports, with a significant proportion coming from South Africa, where miners of chrome, coal and magnetite are choosing to use Maputo Port.
Under the new concession agreement, the capacity of the port is set to increase to 54 million tons per year by 2058, from the current 37 million tons. Priority will be in expanding Matola Coal Terminal next to Maputo, to 18 million tons per year, from 7.5 million tons. Extra storage area will also be created by reclaiming 15 hectares from the sea, according to the recent master plan of the port.
Meanwhile, the annual container handling capacity will increase fourfold to over a million units by 2058.
The government formally approved the expansion of the Maputo Port concession area back in 2022. This incorporated an additional area of 138 hectares, thereby expanding the port space from 140 to 278 hectares.
The extended port concession comes as another good news for the Dubai-based DP World, which has massively expanded its footprint within East African Ports. In October, DP World closed a deal with Tanzanian government, bagging a 30-year concession for the Port of Dar es Salaam.
Developer Breaks Ground on $3B Oil Port on Strait of Malacca
Construction of a mega port designed to compete with Singapore has commenced in neighboring Malaysia. Kuala Linggi International Port (KLIP) has broken ground for a $3.2 billion project that has the potential to reconfigure commercial shipping in the busy Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
KLIP, a private company, announced last week that the construction of the state-of-the-art port facility has started after eight years of planning. The massive project, which will be implemented in phases, is designed to transform Kuala Linggi into a global green industrial hub for energy, port and maritime services. The developers plan to focus on bunkering, oil storage and oil transfers, which are all high-demand activities for the area.
The new facility would compete with Singapore for a slice of traffic sailing on the busy Strait of Malacca, which sees about 120,000 ships pass through every year. KLIP contends that the strategic location places the port at the crossroads of major shipping routes.
“The groundbreaking ceremony is a historic milestone for KLIP, a significant step forward in our mission to become a world-class maritime hub. We are not just building a port; we are constructing a symbol of progress, collaboration and innovation in the maritime ecosystem that stimulates economic development and creates opportunities for future generations,” said Tan Sri Noor, KLIP Executive Chairman.
The massive project, which is largely funded by Chinese investors and is the brainchild of port operator T.A.G. Marine and developer Linggi Base, includes the construction of tank storage, a shipyard, heavy industry fabrication yard, hard standing cargo handling area, wharfs and warehousing facilities.
As part of the project implementation, KLIP revealed that China Harbour Engineering Co. will commence reclamation works after being awarded a contract worth $158 million. The amount is part of the $294 million the company intends to spend to develop a 620-acre artificial island off the coast. In the middle of last year, another Chinese company, China Communications Construction Company, was awarded a $174 million contract to carry out dredging works for the reclamation.
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