The new port and coal terminal at Nacala-a-Velha, in the northern province of Nampula, and the railway linking it to the Moatize coal basin, will be concluded by December of this year.

Gabriel Muthisse, Mozambican Transport Minister, saysonce operational it will be possible to export 22 million tonnes of cargo through Nacala, of which 18 million tonnes will be coal.

At present coal exports from Moatize, in the western province of Tete, are all sent along the Sena railway line to the port of Beira. Even with an increase in handling capacity to 12 million tonnes a year, the Sena line cannot possible handle all the coal exports from Tete, which, in the medium term, could reach 100 million tonnes a year.

The railway from Moatize to Nacala, financed by the Brazilian mining company Vale, includes new stretches of line through Malawi. The railway will re-enter Mozambique at Entre-Lagos, in Niassa province, and the existing northern corridor, through Niassa and Nampula is being upgraded to deal with the coal traffic.

A new coal terminal is also planned in Beira with the capacity of handling 30 million tonnes a year. An entirely new port is also planned at Macuse on the coast of the Zambezia province with a new rail linking it to Moatize able to deal with the 30 million tonnes of coal a year.

Muthisse says, “Our challenge is not just having the facilities. It is to guarantee that they are managed in an efficient and competitive way. We have to take international dynamics into accountin order to allow the Mozambican rail and port systems to attract more cargo from other countries of the region, such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and even the Democratic Republic of Congo.”