The Logistics Co. , indirectly owned by Old Mutual's African Infrastructure Investment Managers, plans to open a trucks-only crossing at Komatipoort, just north of South Africa’s main Lebombo entry point into Mozambique.
The project involves upgrading an existing service road along a railway line, and building a truck staging facility that will have customs and immigration offices on the outskirts of the town of Komatipoort, according to Hennie Jooste, head of operations at TLC. The company, which already operates a rail terminal on the Mozambican side of the border, could process as many as 500 trucks daily at the planned new crossing, Jooste said by phone. That may reduce pressure on the existing border post that can see 1 800 trucks arrive daily, forming queues that sometimes stretch for 30km, he said. The company’s main priority is to accommodate the 200 to 250 trucks TLC operates carrying magnetite, a type of iron ore, into Mozambique.