JSE-listed freight and logistics company Grindrod has entered into a five-year contract to transport five-million tonnes a year of magnetite by rail from copper miner Palabora Mining Company's operations, in Limpopo, to the Matola terminal, in Mozambique, where it will store the magnetite.
Palabora produces the magnetite as a byproduct.
“The conclusion of this contract is significant to Grindrod and is on the back of the great second half of 2019 performance for our Matola terminal. The efficiencies have provided the confidence to deliver the contracted volumes, as well as the terminal’s nameplate capacity of 7.3-million tonnes a year,” says Grindrod Terminals CEO Vishal Deeplaul.
The Matola terminal last year handled record volumes of 5.9-million tonnes, an increase of 13.5% from the previous year. It also exceeded all previous loading records for four consecutive months from September 2019 to January 2020, loading more than 600 000 t a month.
Grindrod group CEO Andrew Waller comments that the contract with Palabora is in line with Grindrod’s strategic focus of securing contracted volumes for diversified cargo and building effective trade corridor solutions for bulk commodites in sub-Saharan Africa.