A South African and Swaziland consortium of smaller mining companies are looking at building a 6mt (million tonne) coal terminal at the port of Maputo in Mozambique. This will be a dedicated facility exclusively handling B-grade steam coal.
The idea has come about because smaller mining companies struggle to attain sufficient export capacity at existing ports in South Africa, at a time when demand, particularly from India, is on the increase.
Six months of studies are under way, although it will take at least three years before any new terminal in Maputo is up and running. Cost has been estimated at $35 million, of which half would be for port infrastructure and the other half for a rail link via Swaziland.