Border representation helps streamline cargo flow

Tuesday 23 September 2014

January this year marked a significant milestone for logistics major, Röhlig- Grindrod which has upgraded and expanded its facilities in Komatipoort.

“We’ve moved into brand new offices – 200 sqm of office space with a 10 000 sqm truck yard facility,” branch manager Rod Cresswell told FTW.

“Our staff complement has also grown to 20 staff members, facilitating imports and exports in and out of Mozambique as well as Swaziland.

The company’s overborder business has been on a steady growth trajectory since it first set up a representative office in Komatipoort 14 years ago”, Cresswell said.

“At the start we were handling the logistics of various large projects in Mozambique and operating from an office container at the old airfield in Komatipoort. Steady growth saw the acquisition, ten years ago, of ILM Corridor Clearing business which was responsible for the transport of chrome and sugar exports to the port of Maputo.

“By the end of 2012, business growth warranted the building of our own independent offices at the Lebombo Dry Port clearing facility.”

The company handles a wide range of cargo through its facility, from ferrochrome, sugar, stainless steel, motor vehicles and consolidations to assorted domestic products for local consumption in Mozambique, providing customs clearing and documentation for imports and exports of roadfreight cargo.

“Through our office representation on both sides of the border, the Lebombo/ Komatipoort side and at Km4 at Ressano Garcia on the Mozambique side, we are well placed to provide our clients with a broader scope of specialised services,” he said.

As part of the larger Grindrod Group, Röhlig-Grindrod is able to draw on the expansive resources of its parent company in the fields of rail, fuel supply and automotive facilities.

CEO of Grindrod Logistics, Hylton Gray, sees enormous potential for the fuel sector as oil companies outsource their secondary transport requirements. “ In addition  to this, the strategic location of ports in Mozambique, Nacala, Beira and Maputo, creates an ideal opportunity to source and distribute fuel into Africa,” he said.