Port of Beira in Mozambique has new coal terminal

The new coal terminal was inaugurated Monday at the port of Beira and is a partnecalcium carbonate crusherrship between state port and rail manager Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM), Brazilian mining company Vale Moçambique and Anglo-Australian group Rio Tinto, two companies that mine coal in the central province of Tete.

The new terminal, which cost US$200 million, has a capacity of up to 6 million tons per year and a modern system to receive and unload trucks, store coal and load ships.

The new terminal is the result of refurbishing a terminal that was no longer in use. The work included construction of rail facilities for trains with 42 trucks and 600 metres in length.

The systems for storage and internal transport set up at the terminal make it possible to store 300,000 tons of coal and have a coal handling capacity that reduces handling time from seven to two days using 35,000 ton ships.

The chairman of CFM, Rosário Mualeia, said that the terminal was another step in meeting the needs of coal exports to Asian and American markets and noted there were plans to build a new coal terminal at the port of Beira, in an area of 64 hectares.

CFM recently dredged the access channel to the port of Beira at a cost of US$39 million, thus allowing ships with a capacity of up to 70,000 tons to enter the port.