Nacala Corridor

From Global Energy Monitor

The Nacala Corridor refers to the new railway connecting the coal mining areas of Moatize to the Nacala port in Nacala, Mozambique. It is estimated that the railway will carry approximately 11 million tonnes of coal in 2015 and expand to 18 million tonnes per annum by 2017.[1]

Vale, which holds a 70 per cent interest in the Nacala rail and port joint venture, has been unable to sell half of its stake in the project despite hopes of completing a deal by mid-2014.[2]

The Moatize to Nacala project will supplement the existing but lower capacity Sena railway from near Moatize to the Beira Port.

Background

In its 2012 annual report Vale stated:[3]

"We are developing the Nacala Corridor, which will connect Moatize site to the Nacala-a-Velha maritime terminal, located in Nacala, Mozambique. In July 2012, our subsidiary Corredor Logıstico Integrado de Nacala (‘‘CLIN’’) entered into two concession agreements with the Government of Mozambique with respect to greenfield railways and a new coal port, which will form part of the Nacala Corridor. In December 2011, our subsidiary Vale Logistics Limited (‘‘VLL’’) entered into a concession agreement with the Republic of Malawi with respect to a 137-kilometer railroad to be built from Chikwawa to Nkaya Junction in Malawi.
These concessions in Malawi and Mozambique will allow for the expansion of Moatize and facilitate the creation of a world-class logistics infrastructure to support our operations in Central and Eastern Africa. We will invest in the capacity expansion of the Nacala Corridor through the rehabilitation of the existing railroads in Mozambique and Malawi, respectively owned by Corredor de Desenvolvimento do Norte S.A. (‘‘CDN’’) and the Central East African Railway Company Limited (‘‘CEAR’’), each a 51%-owned subsidiary of Sociedade de Desenvolvimento Corredor Nacala, SA (‘‘SCDN’’). We will also invest in the construction of railway links from Moatize to a new deep water maritime terminal to be built in Nacala-a-Velha through CLIN. We continue to consider partnerships for the utilization and potential future development of the Nacala Corridor."

Test run

In December 2014 it was reported that the railway from Moatize to the port of Nacala was nearing completion, with an inaugural train trip completed. (Macauhub,Wall Street Journal)

Articles and resources

References

  1. "Moatize/Nacala railway in Mozambique in load testing phase", Macauhub, November 28th, 2014.
  2. Paul Kiernan, "Brazil’s Vale Weighs IPO of Base Metals Division Stake: Miner Also Reducing Capital Spending in 2015", Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2014.
  3. Vale, "Annual Report 2012", Vale, February 2013, page 70.

Related GEM.wiki articles

External resources

  • CCFB, "Beira Rail Concession", Workshop on Large Project Finance, Maputo, Mozambique, February 7, 2008. (Powerpoint Presentation).

External articles

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