The South African mining companies' trucks will be able to take an alternative route to get to the Port of Maputo more quickly, due to the congestion of vehicles on the EN4, as well as logistical costs.

According to the portal MoneyWebThis situation is causing South African mining companies to lose billions of dollars in sales.

Thus Logistics Co, indirectly owned by Old Mutual's African Infrastructure Investment Managers, plans to open a truck-only road in Komatipoort, north of the main entry point to Lebombo in South Africa.

The investment is estimated at 50 million rand and should take place over almost seven months, starting in mid-October and finishing in May.

The project involves upgrading an existing service road along a railway line and building a truck facility that will have customs and immigration offices on the outskirts of the city of Komatipoort, according to Hennie Jooste, chief operating officer of TLC (Terry Cousins and Luis Valentim), quoted by the portal.

The company already operates on the Mozambican side, and plans to process 500 trucks a day as soon as the conditions are in place. The company's main priority is to accommodate the 200 to 250 trucks that TLC operates and which transport magnetite, a type of iron ore, to Mozambique.

The trucks will be unloaded at the railway terminal and will return empty across the existing border. The minerals will then be transported by train to the ports of Maputo Bay.