National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) says local hauliers will now bring in 391 million litres of fuel out of the projected 460 million litres this year following a change of system.

Following a new arrangement, Nocma has slightly departed from the Delivered at Place Unloaded (DPU) system by adding Ex tank and Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) systems to the importation of fuel.

Fuel tankers offload fuel at Nocma depot

In an interview, Nocma director of operations Micklas Reuben said yes terday, the new arrangement will give them room to quickly choose transporters to use in delivery of fuel at its depots.

Under the arrangement, the Ex tank transporters have been allocated 70 percent of the fuel volumes while CIF has been allocated 15 percent.

Reuben said they have chosen the two systems because Nocma wants to extend fuel transportation to local transporters.

He said: “The two systems give us room to choose transporters who can deliver fuel at our depots much quicker. Local transporters have been lamenting that they are being deprived of business in fuel imports, so this time around we will import 460 million litres under the new contracts and we will allocate 391 million litres to them.”

Reuben said local transporters have indicated that they have about 700 registered tankers that can ferry fuel.

“When you look at the number of trucks, it is a good number and they can indeed manage to lift the allocated volumes,” he said.

Reuben touted the Incoterms and Ex tank systems, saying Nocma will be saving 15 percent of the foreign exchange (forex) in the fuel procurement and transportation as dollars will only be spent on the actual commodity while the rest will be paid in kwacha.

“Apart from saving forex on transport, Nocma will save on logistics associated with fuel contracts, insurance, clearing at the border and inspection charges as payments will be made in kwacha,” he said.

Transporters Association of Malawi spokesperson Frank Banda stressed that Malawian transporters have always had the capacity to lift any volumes but the challenge is they were being deprived of business.

“Capacity has always been there. Up until 2016 it has been Malawian transporters bringing fuel but after 2016 there was an arrangement to bring in Tanzanian transporters. If you check the Beira route there is no Mozambican transporter. Local transport industry has capacity and it is an insult when people raise issues of capacity,” said Banda.

P a r l i a m e n t a r y Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change chairperson Werani Chilenga said there is need to give a chance to the new arrangement, which seems to be good for the country.

“It seems to be a good arrangement but if it does not work out, we will summon Nocma and instruct them to find a better system of importing fuel,” he said.

Local transporters have been protesting the use of DPU, saying it favours foreign transporters.

In 2021, Nocma resorted to DPU mode of importing fuel. But transporters argued that DPU is similar to the Delivered Duty Unpaid (DDU) system that they earlier protested as it also favours foreign transporters.

Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) estimates show that in a day, Malawians use 845 000 litres of petrol and 834 000 litres of diesel.

The post Locals to haul 391m litres fuel—Nocma first appeared on The Nation Online.