Maputo Buys Two Cranes and Bets on Its Best Year Yet
MOZAMBIQUE · BUSINESS
Key Facts
—The purchase: Maputo Port Development Company has commissioned two new Liebherr mobile cranes at a cost of US$13.2 million.
—The fleet: The additions bring the port to eight mobile cranes of this series, replacing equipment that has run for 11 years.
—The capacity: Each crane handles between 360 and 400 tonnes an hour, according to the company’s chief executive.
—The target: Direct operations are expected to exceed 17 million tonnes this year, up from just over 15 million.
—The wider port: The port as a whole handled a record 32 million tonnes in 2025, a 3.4% rise on the year before.
—Rail is growing faster: Rail-borne cargo rose 17% in 2025, from 9.7 million to 11.7 million tonnes.
—The pitch: Mozambique’s transport minister framed the investment as a bid for cargo that could otherwise move through rival regional corridors.
—The catch: The cranes replace units that were eleven years old, so this is catching up on wear rather than adding capacity.
The Port of Maputo has bought itself more speed. Its operator commissioned two Liebherr mobile cranes worth US$13.2 million this week and now expects direct operations to pass 17 million tonnes in 2026, which would be its strongest year on that measure.
What was commissioned, and what it cost
Osório Lucas, chief executive of Maputo Port Development Company, announced the figures at a commissioning ceremony on Thursday, reported by the Mozambican news agency AIM. The two Liebherr machines cost US$13.2 million between them.
They bring the port to eight mobile cranes of the same series. They will progressively replace equipment that has been in service for 11 years.
Each unit handles between 360 and 400 tonnes an hour. Lucas said the new equipment should raise productivity, cut disruption and improve turnaround for ships.
The number that needs unpacking
Lucas expects direct operations to exceed 17 million tonnes this year, having risen from below 15 million to just over 15 million. That is the figure the port controls most directly.
It is not the same as the port’s headline throughput. Maputo handled a record 32 million tonnes across the whole complex in 2025, a 3.4% increase on 30.9 million in 2024, as reported in January.
The two numbers measure different things, and conflating them is how a port statistic gets mangled. Direct operations are the terminals the operator runs itself; the headline figure includes the bulk terminals alongside them.
Why the Port of Maputo matters beyond Mozambique
Maputo Bay sits about as far from Gauteng’s mines and smelters as South Africa’s own east-coast ports, and considerably closer for much of Mpumalanga and Limpopo. Geography rather than policy is what puts it in the running.
That geography has made the port an outlet for South African bulk exports whenever the domestic rail and port system falters. Chrome, ferrochrome, coal and magnetite have all moved east across the border in volume.
The result is that a Mozambican crane purchase is partly a South African logistics story. It is capacity being added on one side of a border to serve producers on the other.
Rail is doing the quiet work
The most striking number in the port’s 2025 results was not the tonnage but the mode. Rail-borne cargo rose to 11.7 million tonnes, from 9.7 million.
Rail is what allows a port to grow without drowning its access roads in trucks. It is also the part of the southern African freight system that has been hardest to fix.
Cranes lift boxes and bulk faster, but they do not create cargo. The growth only continues if the corridor keeps feeding the quays.
The competition down the coast
João Matlombe, Mozambique’s minister of transport and logistics, framed the investment as a competitiveness measure. He said the cranes strengthen the port’s position against other regional ports and corridors.
That is a candid description of the market. Durban, Richards Bay, Beira, Nacala and Walvis Bay are all chasing the same inland tonnage.
Ports in the region increasingly compete on reliability rather than price. A shipper choosing a route is buying a predictable date more than a cheap tariff.
What cranes cannot fix
Equipment is the easy part of a port upgrade. Lucas said performance still depends on the readiness of the operations, maintenance and safety teams, and argued for continued training.
That is an unusually honest caveat from a chief executive announcing a purchase. Ports that buy hardware without building crews tend to report the same throughput a year later.
The other constraint is landside. Border posts, rail slots and truck queues decide how much of a crane’s theoretical capacity is ever used.
The corridor logic
Mozambique’s ports policy has been consistent for a decade: sell access rather than resources. Maputo, Beira and Nacala are the seaward ends of corridors that begin in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and South Africa.
That model gives a relatively small economy a claim on other countries’ trade. It also ties the country’s revenues to decisions taken in Johannesburg, Harare and Lusaka.
Concession structures matter here. The port is run under a long-term arrangement between the state railway and private partners, which is what allows capital spending of this kind to be committed at all.
What to watch
The first test is whether the 17 million tonne figure is reported as an outcome rather than an expectation at the end of the year. Targets announced beside new equipment have a habit of drifting.
The second is the rail number. If rail-borne volume keeps growing faster than total throughput, the corridor is genuinely improving rather than simply absorbing more trucks.
The third is what happens to South African bulk exports. Every month of unreliability in the domestic system pushes more of them towards Maputo Bay.
Frequently Asked Questions
What has the Port of Maputo bought?
Maputo Port Development Company commissioned two Liebherr mobile cranes at a cost of US$13.2 million. They bring the port to eight cranes of that series.
How much cargo does the port expect this year?
Its chief executive expects direct operations to exceed 17 million tonnes in 2026, up from just over 15 million. That figure is narrower than the port’s total throughput.
How much did the port handle in 2025?
The port handled a record 32 million tonnes across the whole complex, a 3.4% rise on 30.9 million tonnes in 2024. Rail-borne cargo rose 17% to 11.7 million tonnes.
Why does Maputo matter to South African exporters?
Maputo Bay is roughly as close to Gauteng as South Africa’s east-coast ports, and closer for much of Mpumalanga and Limpopo. That makes it an outlet whenever the domestic rail and port system falters.
What limits the port’s growth?
Equipment is only part of it, and the chief executive pointed to operations, maintenance and safety teams as the deciding factor. Border posts, rail slots and truck queues also cap real throughput.
Connected Coverage
We have covered the purchase of a southern African cargo-handling group by the Philippine operator ICTSI, and the way West Africa’s busiest transshipment port belongs to one of its smallest states. Maputo’s bulk trade also sits behind our reporting on stolen South African chrome, part of the wider picture in Africa: The New Scramble.
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