COAL OF AFRICA SEND FIRST SHIPMENT TO MAPUTO PORT

The South African based company Coal of Africa has made its first shipment of coal by rail from its Vele Colliery in Limpopo province to the port of Maputo.According to an announcement by the company, the load consists of 1,500 tonnes of thermal coal aboard 30 wagons, destined for the Matola Coal Terminal. It will then be shipped out to the Asian market.This is a test shipment to check the axle load capacity of the South African rail line between Groenbult and Hoedspruit. If the tracks are fit to carry the loads, the company intends to begin weekly trains.The Vele mine is located on the border with Zimbabwe, close to the Limpopo River, and contains 370 million tonnes of mineable coal. In the first phase, the mine is planned to produce one million tonnes of coking coal per year.Coal of Africa is a major partner of Maputo Port. Not only does it export coal from its other mines through the port, it also gave the port operator Grindrod a loan of 16 million US dollars in 2009 to finance the expansion of the Matola Coal Terminal.Coal of Africa has signed a memorandum of understanding with ArcelorMittal to provide coking coal for its steelworks in South Africa. However, it still intends to send an increasing amount of coking coal for export via Maputo Port.The company has recently increased its allocation to export three million tonnes of coal per annum via the port, and it has secured the option of taking up a hundred per cent of the increased capacity due to the planned expansion at the port.The company’s spokesperson, Jos Simson, told AIM that the company already uses the railway network to transport its coal to Maputo.This is an essential part of Mozambique’s plan for the development of the port. Last week Mozambican Transport Minister Paulo Zucula told reporters that some South African mining operators prefer to send their mineral exports to Maputo Port by road because of the prohibitive fees charged by the South African authorities for use of the rail system.Zucula said that the preference these exporters express for roads has nothing to do with the Mozambican rail system. According to Zucula, the railway between Ressano Garcia, on the South African border, and Maputo Port has a capacity for eight million tonnes or cargo a year, but is only moving six million tonnes.“What is happening is that the mining companies in South Africa pay high fees to use the railway to Ressano Garcia, which is intended to persuade them to use the port of Durban rather than Maputo”, said Zucula, “Rather than pay that price, they prefer to come to Maputo by road which is much cheaper”.The government would like Maputo Port to send rail wagons to Ressano Garcia, and load the South African cargo into them – but there are not enough spare wagons available.Zucula said that discussions have been held with the South African state rail company Transnet in an attempt to standardise transport prices, so that Maputo Port will no longer be at a disadvantage.