DP World Maputo has added to its reefer capacity in order to accommodate more citrus exports from South Africa.“Reefer capacity has been substantially increased in order to ensure first-class facilities for citrus reefer exports from the nearby hinterland of Mpumalanga and Limpopo,” says Mark Neel, general manager - commercial.With the additions, DP World will be able to accommodate a static capacity of 450 reefer containers in its terminal, which is more than ample to service the hinterland's requirements, he says.It is part of the company’s ongoing investment in the Maputo container terminal. “We are constantly looking to invest in solutions and improvements which make the hinterland trade flows as easy and seamless as possible,” he says.Container traffic is returning to Maputo, according to Neel. “Despite the global stagnation in trade and development, DP World Maputo has been able to achieve positive volume growth. July and August volumes were in the top five monthly throughputs for Maputo. “This was achieved by the terminal being able to meet all our customers’ requirements, even while practising very stringent Covid-19 prevention protocols,” he says.Shippers are switching to Maputo because it has no congestion or delays, according to Neel. The port of Maputo remained connected to South Africa through the most stringent of the lockdowns.“During this time rail connections to key South African customers continued to operate, and due to proactive flexible operations, customers have not been negatively impacted,” he adds.The company has also donated ventilators to the Mozambique government to assist it with the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
