Mozambique's CDN to invest $200 mln in port upgrade

Mozambique's Nacala Development Corridor (CDN) plans to invest $200 million to upgrade its port at Nacala and raise capacity to 16 million tonnes of cargo in 2030 from 1.5 million tonnes, a CDN official said on Wednesday.

CDN executive director Agostinho Langa said the Nacala port would also handle coal from the Moatize coal mine in the country's Tete province if the Sena railway line linking the mine and the northern Beira port is not completed on time this year.

Moatize is owned by Brazil's Vale, which expects to produce 850,000 tonnes of coal from the mine by the end of this year and ramp it up to 8 million tonnes of hard coking coal and 4 million tonnes of thermal coal by 2013/14.

There is a 100 percent possibility of using the Nacal port to ship coal from Moatize, Langa told Reuters.

We will start with the shipment of smaller amounts of at least 45,000 tonnes coal from the mine in September or October this year then gradually raise it in the long run, he said.

Vale has said it would like to export its coal via the Beira port, but may need to use Nacala until the delayed Sena railway line is completed.

The natural deep-water port of Nacala is a trans-shipment hub for landlocked countries including Malawi and Zambia and has been used to handle regional exports of fertilizer, sugar, wheat and tobacco. Malawi is the biggest user of the port.

CDN is owned by the Mozambique Ports and Railways Company (CFM) and the Sociedade de Desenvolvimento do Corredor do Nacala, which hold 49 and 51 percent of the company, respectively.