Mozambique’s Transport minister has said that the new Nacala-a-Velha port and coal terminal, as well as the railway line linking it to the Moatize mining district, would be ready by December. The transport link will have an annual capacity of 22 millions of tonnes, of which export coal will represent 18mt (million tonnes).
At present, export consignments from Moatize are sent via the Sena line to the port of Beira, whose capacity has been raised to 12mt per annum. However, this is insufficient to handle all the output, which could reach 100mt a year in the medium term.
The new railway, which is being built by Vale, involves the construction of several new stretches of line in Malawi to allow trains to access the existing northern line, which is being upgraded.
Within the next two years, a new coal terminal is also due to open in Beira able to handle 30mt annually.
In addition, an entirely new port will be built at Macuse, which will be connected to Matize by a further railway line also able to handle 30mt.
BC