Mining companies in South Africa, grappling with significant losses in revenue due to logistical challenges, may soon have an expedited route to Mozambican ports via a new border crossing.

The Logistics Co (TLC), indirectly owned by Old Mutual's African Infrastructure Investment Managers, intends to establish a dedicated truck crossing near Komatipoort, just north of South Africa's primary Lebombo entry point into Mozambique. The project involves upgrading an existing service road running alongside a railway line and constructing a truck staging area with customs and immigration facilities on the outskirts of Komatipoort.

TLC already manages a rail terminal on the Mozambican side of the border and plans to process up to 500 trucks daily at the proposed new crossing. This development could help alleviate congestion at the current border post, where up to 1,800 trucks arrive daily, causing queues that sometimes stretch up to 30 kilometers. The initial focus will be on accommodating the 200 to 250 TLC-operated trucks transporting magnetite, a type of iron ore, into Mozambique. These trucks will unload at the rail terminal and return empty through the existing border. Subsequently, the minerals will be transported by train to ports in Maputo Bay.

As South African magnetite, chrome, and coal producers increasingly use the N4 highway through the Lebombo border to export their minerals via Mozambique's ports of Maputo and Matola, the demand for more efficient border crossings has grown. In parallel, Mozambique has been expanding its port and rail capacities.

TLC aims to begin construction on the project around mid-October, with completion expected by May. The estimated cost of the project is approximately R50 million ($2.6 million).