Nacala port

The Nacala port is located in northern Mozambique. It is the deepest port in Southern Africa. It is a natural deep harbor which serves land locked Malawi with a 931km railway. The Nacala Railway system connects Nayuchi, Malawi with the Port of Nacala. The railway system also connects Nampula, Malema, and Cuamba. In Cuamba, there is a junction which goes northeast to Lichinga and southeast to Nayuchi.

The Mozambique government plans to spend $500 million U.S. dollars on coal freight. It will boost its rail freight with a new railway linking the coal rich province Tete to the Port of Nacala. Mozambique needs a second railway for coal in order to expand infrastructure in the country. According to the Minister of Transportation and Communications Paulo Zucula, the government expects the line to be completed by 2015. By that time, the government will have reached the peak of coal production in the Moatize area in Tete. The Danish government has provided funding for the government. In 2004, 300,000 tons of coal were moved by rail from the Port of Nacala.

Nacala port is a possible location for a new export terminal for coal produced from the Moatize coalfield in Mozambique. A news report in 2009 cited Mozambique’s Transport Minister Paulo Zucula stating that the government had secured $500 million 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.

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, use the port. Coal from the Moatize coalfields is transported to the port via the 660 kilometre long Sena railway which has limited capacity, is built to a poor standard and subject to flooding. Beira port is subject to silting, requiring constant dredging.

Vale to spend $4.4 billion to build terminal and rail line; Japan also studies terminal funding
In July 2011 it was announced that Brazilian based Vale began studies on building a coal terminal at Nacala port in northern Mozambique. The project is expected to cost about $1.5 billion. In 2012, Vale, said that it was planning to spend $4.4 billion to build the terminal and the 912 km railway line to connect the port with its Moatize mine. Separately, Japan has been conducting a feasibility study on improving the capacity and operation of the port. However, as of February 2012 Japan remained undecided on whether to fund the Nacala project.

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