FIRST COAL EXPORTS FROM NACALA IN DECEMBER

Mozambican Transport Minister Gabriel Muthisse on Wednesday reiterated that the first exports of coal from the new port under construction at Nacala-a-Velha, in the northern province of Nampula, will take place in December.According to a report in Thursday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, Muthisse, speaking in the western city of Tete at a meeting of his Ministry’s Coordinating Council, said that the Nacala-a-Velha coal terminal will have the capacity to store 1.45 million tonnes of coal.Nacala-a-Velha is opposite the existing port of Nacala on the other side of Nacala Bay. It will be connected to the Moatize coal basin by a 900 kilometre long railway running across southern Malawi, and financed by the Brazilian mining company Vale. The government has signed a concession on the new port and on coal traffic along the railway with the Integrated Nacala Logistics Corridor (CLN), a consortium that is 80 per cent owned by the Brazilian mining giant Vale, and 20 per cent by Mozambique's publicly owned port and rail company, CFM.According to CLN officials, the entire project is costing 4.4 billion US dollars. 

The coal terminal at Nacala-a-Velha will be able to export 18 million tonnes of coal a year.According to Muthisse, the coal trains will be enormous, consisting of 120 wagons pulled by four lomotives. Such a train will be 1.5 kilometres long. CLN is importing 80 locomotives to deal with traffic along the Moatize-Nacala line.By 2015, the line should have the capacity to move 11 million tonnes of cargo a year, rising to 18 million tonnes in 2017.Muthisse told the meeting that those working in transport and communications should feel proud at the contribution they have made to reducing poverty, to social inclusion and cohesion and to wealth production.