Port upgrades help lift earnings to hit Sh10.3bn

Mombasa port has announced a 45 per cent growth in pre-tax profit, boosted by increased efficiency arising from infrastructure investment.

Pre-tax profit hit Sh10.3 billion in 2016, up from Sh7.1 billion in the previous year.

The port generated revenue of Sh40.5 billion, compared to Sh35.5 billion in the previous year, representing a 14.1 per cent increase.

Total cargo traffic grew by 2.4 per cent from 26.73 million tonnes handled in 2015 to 27.36 million tonnes in 2016, said managing director Catherine Mturi-Wairi.

“The increase was mainly attributed to improvements in productivity arising largely from more investment in modern infrastructure, associated equipment and automation of port operational processes,” said Ms Mturi-Wairi.

While imports rose to 23.12 million tonnes from 22.68 million tonnes representing a marginal growth of 1.9 per cent, exports grew by 3.6 per cent from 3.53 million tonnes in 2015 to 3.66 million tonnes in 2016.

Over the past three years, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has invested billions of shillings in cargo handling equipment at the Mombasa port.

“In April last year, we commissioned phase one of the second container terminal creating an additional capacity of 550,000 TEUs heralding a new era in development of the port and enhanced capacity to facilitate the region’s trade,” she said in a report on the port’s performance for 2016.

“Phase two of the project is currently under detailed designing and construction work is expected to commence in July,” the MD added.

READ: Construction of road linking Mombasa to SGR station starts June

According to statistics the authority released this week, container traffic at the port increased by 15,253 from 1.07 million TEUs in 2015 to 1.09 million TEUs in 2016, representing an increase of 1.4 per cent.

Construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is also expected to transform delivery of cargo from the port and KPA is expanding the Nairobi Inland Container Depot from a capacity of 180,000 to 450,000 TEUs.

Transfer of cargo from the port to the ICD by SGR is projected to significantly improve the port’s handling capacity, ship turn-around and faster clearance of cargo at the port.

Between 2011 and 2015, Mombasa port achieved significant traffic growth, with total cargo throughput increasing at an annual average of 7.6 per cent from 19.95 million tons in 2011 to 26.73 million tons in 2015 while the container traffic grew by 8.7 per cent from 770,804 TEUs to 1,076,118 TEUs over the same period.

Since dredging of the port channel and turning basin three years ago, the size of ships calling at the facility has increased. MV Maersk Clemence Schulte, which is 250 meters long, 37.5 meters wide and a depth of 13.9 metres with a capacity of 6,000 Twenty Foot Equivalent (TEU), has made several calls at the port.