Beira coal terminal
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Beira coal terminal is a coal export terminal at Beira port, Sofala province, Mozambique.
The US$200 million terminal, which has an estimated annual capacity of 6 million metric tons, began operations in 2012 as a joint venture between mining giants Vale and Rio Tinto, together with Mozambique's national port and railway company CFM (Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique).[1]
The terminal is linked by the 660 kilometre-long Sena railway to Moatize, Tete province, the current center of Mozambique's coal mining boom, where both Vale and ICVL operate mines.
Contents
Background
Brazilian mining giant Vale, the first major company to start producing thermal and metallurgical coal from the Tete basin, reported in August 2011 that it delivered its first coal by train from its Moatize mine project to the Beira port.[2] Between August 2011 and January 2012, Vale exported 246,000 metric tons of coal using Beira port's pre-existing infrastructure.
In February 2012, the current Beira coal terminal was officially opened.[3] Despite the terminal's announced annual capacity of 6 million metric tons, first year exports were projected to be only 5 million tons, split 80%-20% between Vale and Rio Tinto[4], and in 2014 CFM officials acknowledged that actual capacity remained lower than anticipated due to limitations in rail and port infrastructure.[5]
In 2014, Rio Tinto sold all of its Tete basin coal holdings, most notably its Benga mine, to the Indian group International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd (ICVL). ICVL announced that it planned to significantly increase coal production at the Benga mine - from five million tonnes annually to 12 or 13 million tonnes - and export 60% of its output to India.[6]
In 2015, commercial operations began at Vale's new coal export terminal in Nacala, which is linked to the Moatize coalfields by a new railway line. By 2017 Vale Moçambique projected that its coal exports from Nacala port would greatly exceed those from Beira (18 million metric tons from Nacala vs only 4 million from Beira).[7]
In 2017, coal exports from Beira were slashed in half when Vale announced that it would transfer 100% of its Mozambican coal port operations to Nacala. Nacala's natural deep-water harbor and state-of-the-art facilities offer significant advantages over Beira, which requires regular dredging. Vale's departure from Beira leaves only two coal companies, Jindal and ICVL of India, still operating at Beira, with total 2017 exports of two million tonnes vs the five million tonnes originally projected for the port.[8]
Project Details
- Operator: CFM (Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique), Vale, Rio Tinto
- Location: Sofala province, Mozambique
- Annual Capacity (Tonnes): 6 million
- Status: Existing
- Type: Exports
- Coal source: Moatize mine, Tete province, Mozambique
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ "Terminais de carvão e de contentores: Investimentos que devolveram a reputação do porto da Beira", Noticias Online, September 18, 2013.
- ↑ "Vale Mozambique Coal Reaches Port; Eyes Aug Export" WebWire, accessed August 11, 2011.
- ↑ "Concluído terminal provisório de carvão na Beira", A Verdade, February 28, 2012.
- ↑ "Porto da Beira duplica capacidade de carvão", Moçambique para todos, May 5, 2012.
- ↑ "Sistema Ferro-Portuário da Beira: Capacidade intacta", Noticias Online, June 2, 2014.
- ↑ "ICVL to nearly triple coal output from mine bought from Rio Tinto", Reuters, August 1, 2014.
- ↑ "Vale Moçambique plans to start exporting coal via port of Nacala-a-Velha in 2015", Macau Hub, March 14, 2014.
- ↑ "Mozambique Logistics: Vale diverts its coal exports to Nacala-a-Velha terminal," The Mozambique Resources Post, November 15, 2017
