Grindrod’s collaboration pays off in Maputo and results in two awards

“I am extremely proud of what our logistics partners and Grindrod, in particular the Maputo teams, have done to unlock the Maputo corridor and provide an efficient solution to our customers”, said Andrew Waller, CEO Grindrod Ltd. 
The recent improvement in the efficiency achieved in the port of Maputo, resulting in two awards, can be attributed to three major interventions which Grindrod is proud to be associated with.
Firstly, the Maputo channel dredge (port deepening) completed in January by the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), in which Grindrod has a 24,7% share;
Secondly, the Berth Deepening and Quay Offset Project at Grindrod’s Matola Coal Terminal (TCM) which now allows fully-laden Panamax vessels to berth at TCM.  In recognition of the Berth Deepening project at TCM, on 12 October 2018, Grindrod, as the client, and its appointed consulting engineers, PRDW Africa (Pty) Limited, and contractor, Subtech Group Limited, jointly received a South African Institute of Civil Engineering award (SAICE) in the category of most outstanding civil engineering project (Railway and Harbour Engineering), whilst being highly commended in the category of Outstanding International Project. and;
Thirdly, the collaboration between key business partners Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), Mozambique Ports and Railways (CFM) and MPDC, allowed TCM to increase coal volumes by 36%. This significant increase came on the back of improved information sharing, continuous planning and commitments made in support of each of the parties’ business models. The result is an improvement of 25% (to 50 wagons per train) on the coal rail-line and a 7% increase on the magnetite rail-line. In September 2018 the first 80-wagon train (a further 60% improvement on the existing coal-line) was successfully tested through the Maputo corridor.
These achievements contributed to TFR receiving a prestigious Platinum award for the Maputo Corridor at the Annual Logistics Achiever awards on 14 October 2018. The award gives top honours for “Expanding South Africa’s International Global Route-to-Market and capacity”.