Grindrod Terminals was one of the four partners to have participated in the recent rail trial to export coal from Botswana via the Maputo corridor.
The Maputo Corridor is a major trade corridor which connects the Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa with the Port of Maputo, port and the capital of Mozambique. The corridor comprises roads — including the new N4 highway — and railways, ports, and border facilities at Komatipoort which connect the industrial areas around Gauteng, and mines and agricultural
districts to the east, with ports on the Mozambique coast. Maputo and Matola are both deepwater ports. Transport organizations and border control agencies are co-operating to improve transport and lower barriers to trade.
On 11 November a 34-wagon train loaded with 1,600 tonnes of coal arrived at Grindrod’s coal terminal in Maputo Port, having covered the 1,300km from Francistown in Botswana in three days, travelling via Bulawayo in Zimbabwe.
The trial was sponsored by African Energy Resources, Morupule Coal Mine in Botswana,
Vitol Coal South Africa (energy and raw commodities trader in which Grindrod has an interest) and Grindrod Mozambique. It involved the collaboration of three railway operations - Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
A statement released by African Energy said,“Botswana Railways undertook assembly of the 400m- long train at Francistown Station.A Botswana Railways (BR) crew and locomotive then took the train to the Zimbabwean border, where a National Railways of Zimbabwe crew and locomotive took over.A further crew and locomotive change to Caminhos de Ferro de Mocambique was made at Chicualacuala in Mozambique to take the train to the Matola Coal Terminal which is operated by port operator Grindrod Terminals and Vitol. African Energy, Morupule, Grindrod and Vitol shared the costs for the export trial.
“African Energy and Morupule Coal Mine have transferred ownership of the coal to Vitol at Maputo (at no cost). The coal has been unloaded at the Grindrod Coal Terminal in Maputo Port where Vitol and Grindrod will blend the cargo with other coal in their stockpiles. It will then be sold and subsequently loaded into bulk carriers at the terminal as part of routine coal export operations, marking the first time that Botswana coal has been exported to overseas markets. “This trial not only proved conclusively that bulk export of
coal from collieries in Botswana via the Maputo corridor is feasible, but also provided invaluable technical information on the operation of rail services to assist African Energy’s feasibility study into coal exports from Botswana which is due to be discussed with the government of Botswana and other parties in early 2013.
“Of significance is that for much of the overall route the train was able to meet or exceed the anticipated operating speed of 50km/h, indicating that with appropriate maintenance budgets from increased traffic volumes, significant improvements in turnaround time will be possible.”