Coal terminals in Mozambique

At present the only operating coal terminal in Mozambique is Beira port. Coal from Vale's Moatize mine, which was commissioned in mid-2011, and Rio Tinto's Benga coal mine, which is currently scheduled to be commissioned in late 2011, will use the port. Coal from the Moatize coalfields ios transport to the port via the Sena railway.

A transport adviser to the World Bank, Jose Chembeze, told Reuters that the Biera port could handle approximately 12 to 15 million tonnes of coal per annum. Chembeze stated that a further upgrade of the railway to allow it to handle 12 million tonnes of coal a year were under consideration and that this would cost an additional $250-280 million.

In a Jult 2010 investor presentation by Riversdale Mining, which was taken over by Rio Tinti the following year, stated that the "Mozambique Government is planning for a new Beira coal terminal with 18 -24mtpa of new capacity to be constructed (additional to refurbished capacity)". The company states that the expansion of Benga would be timed to co-incide with this. Further expansion of coal exports from the Moatize area, the company flags, could require "double tracking, passing loops, signalling & bridge upgrade" on the Sena railway line.

According to Riversdale's Managing Director Steve Mallyon a "scoping study", completed on a "Richards Bay-type" coal terminal in Mozambique in May 2011, looked likely. Richards Bay Coal Terminal is Africa’s largest coal terminal, with an annual capacity of 91 million tons. The report of Mallyon's comments did not mention a location.

Another coal export port has been mooted. A news report in 2009 cited Mozambique’s Transport Minister Paulo Zucula stating that the government had secured $500m from the Dutch government and the European Union to to build a new railway line from Moatize to the deep-water Nacala port by 2015.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Mozambique and coal

External resources

 * CCFB, "Beira Rail Concession", Workshop on Large Project Finance, Maputo, Mozambique, February 7, 2008. (Powerpoint Presentation).