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Uganda records increased shipments at Mombasa
Uganda-bound cargo through Mombasa Port has substantially increased in the last one week. daily nation phOTO
Ugandan traders have had a fair share of transiting cargo from Mombasa to Nairobi through the recently launched Standard Gauge Rail (SGR).
Kenya, unlike Uganda, has already launched the train service on a number of routes that stretch to different parts of the country. Records from Kenya Ports Authority last week showed that SGR has become the most popular form of transport, especially for Uganda-bound cargo.
Previously, much of the cargo was transported by road. According to data from KPA, a total of 3,565 Uganda-bound containers were rolled off by rail to Nairobi last week. This was an increase from 2,917 containers the week before.
Tanzania recorded almost similar cargo of 400 containers compared to South Sudan and Rwanda which recorded 217 containers and 188 containers respectively.
Other countries such as DR Congo recorded 135 containers while Burundi and Ethiopia shipped 25 and 11 respectively.
A total of 232,188 metric tonnes of cargo was handled at the conventional cargo terminal during the week after working on 21 vessels compared to 204,748 metric tonnes in the previous week.
“Out of the total tonnage handled 231,105 metric tonnes were imports compared to only 1,013 metric tonnes of exports. During the period, bulk clinker dominated imports for the second week. About 92,575 metric tonnes of the product were offloaded.
Wheat recorded about 55,184 metric tonnes while steel registered 40,046 metric tonnes. Other commodities handled included 24,999 metric tonnes of fertilizers, 3,213 units of motor vehicles, 5,465 metric tonnes of goods packed in containers, 3,943 metric tonnes of sorghum and general cargo of 2,652 metric tonnes.
Forecast
According to KPA, in the next two weeks the port’s conventional cargo terminal is forecasted to handle a total of 229,275 metric tonnes of cargo out of which 216,235 tonnes are expected to be imports and 13,037 metric tonnes of exports.
The port is also projecting to receive 15 vessels at the conventional cargo terminal in the next 14 days.
