Not enough chrome shipments to fill Maputo corridor capacity, TFR says

The Maputo Corridor is being underused by chrome exporters, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) northeast corridor acting managing executive Mandisa Mondi has said.

Speaking at the Critical Materials Conference: Ferroalloys 2024, in Johannesburg, on September 11, she challenged chrome producers to increase their use of the line.

“We've got capacity to [run] at least 21 chrome ferroalloy trains to Maputo every week, and we have an appetite to push that to 24. In weeks when the demand was at the right level, we have delivered that number. However, the demand on the eastern side is a challenge,” she said.

The Maputo Rail Corridor connects South Africa with the Mozambican coast. TFR is responsible for the South African section of the corridor, handling the bulk of cargo originating in South Africa.

In February, Mining Weekly reported that a consortium including DP World and Mozambique’s Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique, or CFM, had signed a deal with the Mozambiquan government to extend its port concession to 2058. The concessionaires agreed to spend more than $2-billion to expand the port capacity to 54-million tonnes a year from 37-million tonnes.

CFM will also nearly double the capacity of the railway link from the South African border to Maputo.

As part of the upgrade, the African Development Bank said it would be financing the purchase of $40-million of locomotives and wagons, with another $30-million under consideration by the Development Bank of Southern Africa for improvements on the line that connects the Port of Maputo with South Africa.

“We're looking for more business. However, business has not necessarily risen to the levels that we expect. The Maputo Corridor has capacity for chrome. If you've got chrome, please bring it on,” Mondi implored.