By: Nation online

Post-election demonstrations in Mozambique have negatively impacted on Malawi’s fuel imports as the country is now heavily dependent on the Tanzania route, it has emerged.

In separate interviews yesterday, National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma), Transporters Association of Malawi and Petroleum Retailers Association of Malawi (Pram) confirmed the volatility of the situation, but said they were hoping for the best.

The situation has seen erratic availability of petrol in Blantyre and surrounding areas in the Southern Region where pumps have been dry in the past couple of days.

Malawi imports 50 percent of its fuel through Beira and 20 percent via Nacala, both in Mozambique while Dar es Salaam in Tanzania handles 30 percent, according to Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera).

In an interview yesterday, Nocma spokesperson Raymond Likambale said the post-election protests in Mozambique have affected transportation of fuel.

He said: “We are, however, managing the situation. Currently, all Malawian tankers are being rerouted to Blantyre. As at present, 10 petrol tankers are already in Blantyre and more are on the way. We are uplifting products from Lilongwe.

“It will be done every day until the situation in Mozambique normalises. We are closely monitoring the situation.”

In terms of stock levels, Likambale said as of yesterday, Nocma had 1 580 000 litres of petrol and 1 701 000 litres diesel.

He said: “In transit, we have 2.5 million litres of petrol and 3.2 million litres of diesel. We also have our loading plans at Dar es Salaam in Tanzania where tankers are already on siding. These will load 1.9 million for petrol and about 4.7 million litres of diesel.

“We also have two trains that are coming in from Nacala in Mozambique carrying about one million litres of diesel, but movement of these wagons has been slow because of the protests.”

Malawi’s daily consumption is pegged at one million litres each for petrol and diesel.

Transporters Association of Malawi spokesperson Frank Banda confirmed the challenges, saying, the situation remains volatile and no one would want to risk their goods and life.

He said they have hauled 20 tankers, 10 each from Lilongwe and Mzuzu, to ease the situation in Blantyre. He said tankers are expected to arrive by close of business today.

Said Banda: “Most of the vehicles that were in Mozambique returned, but we are now failing to send more vehicles to haul fuel because the situation is volatile. Blantyre has seen long queues because mostly, is served by fuel from Mozambique.”

Petroleum Retailers Association of Malawi chairperson Happy Jere said the situation remained volatile, especially for diesel.

The country spends $600 million (about K1 trillion) on fuel importation per year, as per the Reserve Bank of Malawi.