Angola’s booming trade and heavy reliance on imports, mostly from the EU, China and the U.S., is putting pressure on its ports to keep up with ever-increasing levels of traffic and demand for storage space at the country’s main gateways.
Established in 2004 and based at the Port of Luanda, Multiparques is investing heavily in various initiatives to help alleviate congestion at the republic’s busiest maritime point of entry.
Multiparques, together with its sister company Multiterminais, provides importers and exporters with a diversified logistics platform, offering comprehensive cargo handling and storage solutions. It takes care of the management and operation of terminal vehicles, storage, loading and unloading of vehicles, containers, cargo, customs warehouses and the distribution of various goods.
Ranked as one of the most expensive cities in the world, storage space at the crowded Luanda port is at a premium. To provide an alternative to on-site storage at the port, Multiparques allotted $70 million to develop a dry port some 15 miles inland at Viana. The dry port will ease congestion and reduced transportation and storage costs will result in reduced costs for the consumer.
New warehouses at Viana will provide additional space and mean containers will no longer need to be used for storage. “Containers can be removed once they have been emptied and their merchandise stored,” says Mr. Rocha Pinto. “This will mean reduced prices and the delivery time to return containers to clients will take just two to five days.”
Hundreds of containers pass through the 60-hectare dry port at Viana daily. “We are also building up cold storage facilities that will not only serve for imported goods but also to store local produce, which is a growing industry, and then later distribute it to markets in Luanda,” says Mr. Rocha Pinto. “This is the kind of contribution we would like to give to our local producers and this is actually what we are developing now. Furthermore, I am not only looking nationally but also on a regional level, serving other countries in the South African Development Community through operations in Lobito.”
‘FOR TECHNOLOGY-RELATED SERVICES I WENT TO THE U.S. AND HONG KONG TO GET THE BEST TRACKING SYSTEM’
‘WE ARE INVESTING IN THE CLT TRUCKS FLEET SO THAT WE CAN TRANSPORT CONTAINERS FROM THE PORT TO THE DRY PORT FOR MUCH LESS THAN THE CURRENT PRICE – AROUND $300 AGAINST THE CURRENT $1,000’
‘WE ARE ALSO BUILDING UP COLD STORAGE FACILITIES THAT WILL STORE LOCAL PRODUCE FOR MARKET’
|
A 100% Angolan company and employing more than 500 people, Multiparques provides both domestic and international clients with an unrivalled logistics partner in Angola. Its multi-million-dollar investments in world-class systems and technology represent an important step forward in opening the nation up to international trade. “For technology-related services I went to the U.S. and Hong Kong to get the best tracking system,” says Mr. Rocha Pinto. “I want to attract big players like Coca-Cola and offer them a complete service, from bringing their cargos from abroad to its delivery to its final destination.”
Last November, Luanda Railways, or Caminhos de Ferro de Luanda (CFL), started to transport cargo containers from the Luanda commercial port to the dry port at Viana on a new line in a move that is hoped to reduce costs and ease traffic volumes on the capital’s roads.
“As a logistical platform dealer, of course we are responsible in terms of bringing the cargo on site in the cheapest way to make sure that at the end of the day these houses are cost effective,” says Mr. Rocha Pinto. “The main problem in Angola today is that houses are very expensive due to all costs involving logistical aspects and cargo flow.
“The role we can play has to do with the swift way cargos can be offloaded and taken out of the port, and also in terms of storage, not only in Luanda but also in other provinces. For that reason we have made an investment in 110 CLT trucks, another company created for the transportation of the containers, because today to bring a container to the dry port from the port of Luanda costs at least $1,000, which is half the price involved in transporting cargo from Europe.”
Multiparques is investing in the fleet of CLT trucks so that it can transport containers from the port to the dry port for much less than the current price: around $300 against the current $1,000. Regarding storage, the company intends to slice it from the current $50 to $25.
“For these prices to come down first of all we have to conclude all the investment being done right now or people will start looking for alternative ways to sort out their transportation problems. The most important thing here is to have conditions to offer what we are promising our clients. But before it happens, we have to conclude our investments in terms of buying the equipment, paving, upgrading roads, generators and all related items required services to make our port totally operational,” says Mr. Rocha Pinto.
0 COMMENTS