According to LAR, the bulk cargo ship MVLindsaylou, loaded with 40,500 tons of sulfur, docked at the port of Lobito, coming from Qatar, where it left about a month ago.
The LAR consortium, made up of Trafigura, Mota-Engil and Vecturis, obtained in 2022 the concession for the operation, management and maintenance of the Lobito railway corridor, which runs through Angola to the African copper belt, and the mineral terminal at the port of Lobito , for a period of 30 years.
The rehabilitation project of this logistics corridor, supported by the governments of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and the US Government's Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII), represents an investment of more than 500 million dollars during the term of the concession.
The 40,500 tons of sulfur will now be transported on international freight trains bound for the Democratic Republic of Congo to support mining activity in the Katanga area.
The company also added that the start of LAR's port operations comes after the terminal's rehabilitation works were carried out, which took place after the start of railway operations, on January 25th of this year.
According to LAR, the railway operation has already allowed the circulation of 1800 trains – including passenger trains and national and international cargo trains – with a weekly frequency of two international freight connections from the DRC to the port of Lobito and around of 50 domestic freight trains per month.
"It is estimated that in the future, after the planned investments have been made, six international freight trains will circulate per day", said the concession company.
The arrival of the first ship and the beginning of port operations "means the involvement of the Lobito Corridor concessionaire in all the work that needs to be operationalized and developed in order for it to be profitable", highlighted Francisco Franca, president of LAR.
Quoted in a statement, the company's manager also assured that LAR intends to guarantee an increase in the volumes of railway and port operations to "achieve the strategic objectives of the Government of Angola in this important logistical corridor".
LAR has around 700 workers divided between the company's management and railway and port operations, mostly coming from CFB - Caminhos de Ferro de Benguela and the port of Lobito, expecting their number to increase "significantly depending on the increase in activity of the dealership".
In the coming years, as announced, an investment of around 450 million dollars is planned, through financing from the Financial Cooperation for International Development of the United States (DFC), which is in the final phase of validation, to increase the modernization and effectiveness of the Lobito Corridor.
