The new Nacala-a-Velha coal terminal in Mozambique’s Nampula province has received 50 tons of coal. The commodity will be exported from this port for the first time, according to José Ottoni, director of the Nacala Integrated Logistics Corridor.

This corridor includes a 900-kilometre railway between Moatize and Nacala-a-Velha, crossing through part of Malawi. Costing an estimated US$4.4 billion it is the result of a partnership between Brazilian group Vale and Mozambican state port and railway company CFM.

Ottoni says legal procedures are underway to bring the first ship to Nacala because the vessel is licensed to load from the port of Beira. He gave assurances that normal coal shipments will be provided from August, when conditions should be in place to transport the coal.

“In 2017, when we reach the installed capacity of the port, we will export 22 million tons of coal per year and until then we will export 18 million tons of coal a year, when we will be operating with 89 locomotives and 1,862 wagons,” he said.

Source: Macauhub