Mozambican ports handled 70,170 tonnes of cargo in 2024, 10.7% more than in 2023, despite the decline in the port of Maputo, which accounted for almost half of that volume, according to official data compiled today by Lusa.
According to data from the Mozambican government, cargo movement in the ports of Beira (centre) and Nacala (north) grew by 12.9% and 13.6% respectively, while Maputo ‘recorded a decrease of 0.3%’ compared to the previous year.
In 2023, Mozambican ports handled just over 63,361 tonnes of cargo.
‘Overall, the positive performance of the ports was due to an increase in the level of handling of fuel, wheat and fertilisers; an increase in demand and diversion of cargo from other ports in the region; an increase in installed cargo capacity; an increase in cargo handled; and greater efficiency and a reduction in cargo handling time,’ reads the same report.
It adds that the country’s secondary ports also showed an increase in cargo handling, with Nacala-a-Velha recording growth of 33.4 per cent, Topuito growing by 9.8 per cent, Quelimane by 32.5 per cent, Mocímboa da Praia by 1,036.4 per cent and Pemba, also in Cabo Delgado, by 14.7 per cent.
The cargo handled by the port of Maputo fell in 2024, to 30.9 million tonnes, which the concessionaire MPDC justified in January by the post-election demonstrations, despite the fact that taxes paid to the Mozambican state had increased.
In a statement released earlier, Sociedade de Desenvolvimento do Porto de Maputo (MPDC) said, however, that the port ‘continued to show resilience and adaptability in the face of significant logistical challenges’.
It adds that the decrease in total volumes, at all port terminals in the Port of Maputo and the Port of Matola, ‘was mainly due to the post-election protests and road blockades in the Maputo corridor, including the closure of the border for several days and the conditioning of border and road operations for more than a month’.
‘The railway corridor between South Africa and Mozambique was also affected by the protests and blockades, along with a derailment in October/November, which led to the closure of the line for a month,’ recalls the MPDC.
Since 21 October, the post-election demonstrations in Mozambique have caused more than 300 deaths and more than 700 injuries, as well as looting, barricades and roadblocks and the destruction of public and private equipment, as well as violent clashes with the police.
