The Mozambique Ministry of Transport and Communications has reaffirmed that the country will start exporting coal from the Tete basin through the port of Nacala by December using a new railway line. This was made clear at the thirty-second meeting of the Ministry’s Coordinating Council, which was held in Tete.

The coal will be transported from the Moatize district of the inland province of Tete to Nacala, in Nampula province, by train, throughMalawi. The total length of the Moatize–Nacala railway will be 912 km, of which 684 km will be existing track that has been refurbished, and 228 km is new track, laid mostly in Malawi. This new line will complement the currently overstressed Sena line from Tete to the port city of Beira, in Sofala province. A new coal terminal is being built at Nacala harbour.

The development of the railway and terminal is being carried out by Corredor Logístico Integrado de Norte (CLIN – North Integrated Logistics Corridor). This is a joint venture between major Brazilian mining group Vale (which operates the Moatize mine in the district of the same name) and Mozambique State-owned railways and ports company CFM. Vale’s local subsidiary, Vale Mozambique, owns 80% of CLIN, while CFM owns the remaining 20% (although, reportedly, CFM is entitled to increase its shareholding). The investment needed to develop the railway and terminal is $1.5-billion.

The Nacala line is planned to have a capacity of more than 11-million tons a year (Mt/y) by the end of 2015, growing to 13 Mt/y in 2016 and 18 Mt/y in 2017, reported the newspaper Notícias. The new coal terminal at Nacala will have a stockpile capacity of 1.45-billion tons. The intent is to run 1.5-km-long trains composed of four locomotives and 120 wagons. To this end, 80 locomotives are being acquired. (Currently, trains on the Sena line seem to comprise just over 40 wagons each.)

The Nacala line will be open to all coal miners in the Tete basin to use to export their coal. This is a consequence of a memorandum of understanding between CLIN and the Mozambique government. The tariff model to be applied is still under discussion. However, a report in March last year indicated that 75% of the line’s capacity will be reserved for Vale. It is also intended to operate general goods and passenger trains on the line.

Meamwhile, in an urelated development, the growth in demand for air freight into northern Mozambique to supply the growing oil and gas industry in the Rovuma basin has caused Kenyan airfreight company Astral Aviation to increase the frequency of its flights to Pemba, in Cabo Degado province, from Nairobi from once to twice a week.

The Rovuma basin lies off the coast of Cabo Delgado, which is Mozambique’s most northerly province. Pemba is the capital of Cabo Delgado.

“In the past 12 months, we have transported 800 t of cargo linked to petroleum and gas projects in the Âovuma basin,” Astral Aviation CEO Sanjeev Gadhia told Mozambique news agency AIM. “It has to do with shipments from ships to Houston, Aberdeen, Dubai, Singapore and Johannesburg.” The flights between Nairobi and Pemba are usually operated by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) DC9F and Fokker F27 turboprop freighter aircraft. He also stated that his company intended to offer charter flights from Nairobi to Mocimbo da Praia, in the Palma district of Cabo Delgado. Mocimbo de Praia is where a logistics base for the gas industry is being built.