Mozambique Mining & Logistics: Nacala Corridor comes for rescue as Vale halts coal deliveries through Sena railway

The Brazil-headquartered mining giant owns and operates the line which transports coal from its Moatize mine in the Tete province to Beira at the coast.

The rebel group Renamo is said to be behind the attacks where one train crew member was injured, according to the state news agency.

The 575km Sena line in the south of Mozambique has a transport capacity of 6 million tonnes of coal per annum.

The company will continue to use its own line in the country’s north, which transports coal to the Nacala port 912km away – The Nacala Corridor

Vale has been ramping up the Nacala corridor transporting 747,000t in the March quarter compared with 241,000t in the final three months of 2015. Production at Moatize hit 900,000t in the first quarter.

Vale Moçambique is due to send its first shipment of 50,000 tons of coking coal to Swinoujscie, Poland, on a shop that will be loaded from 27 to 30 June in the port of Nacala, said commodities news agency Platts.

The company, which is a subsidiary of Brazilian group Vale, shipped coal to Poland last year from the port of Beira as part of its regular sales to Europe while it was waiting for conclusion of the railway between Moatize, in Tete province, and the deep water port of Nacala, in Nampula province.

In a recent statement, Vale Moçambique said it had extracted 603,00 tons of coking or metallurgical coal in Moatize and 297,000 tons of thermal coal in the first quarter of 2016.

Production in the quarter fell by 31 percent against the last quarter of 2015 and 17.1 percent year-on-year for coking coal and 12.8 percent and 30.8 percent, respectively, for thermal coal.

Suspension on wednesday of coal transport along the Sena railway, follows two attacks on trains loaded with coal.

The two attacks, in which the trains were shot at, caused slight injuries to two train assistants.(source:miningjournal, macauhub)