The dedicated bulk minerals terminal for handling commodities such as chrome and ferrochrome from Zimbabwe is taking shape. The first area of 10 000 square metres was paved in 2021, and another 15 000sqm will be added in 2022, together with a dedicated railway siding and weighbridge in 2022, according to Cornelder de Moçambique commercial director Leticia Ferreira.Cornelder is the operator of the Port of Beira.She told Freight News that the general cargo terminal paved area had been increased by 36%, from 28 000sqm to 38 000sqm in 2021 and would be increased to 53 000sqm in 2022.The area will be available for multiple commodities as exports of unprocessed and semi-processed chrome from Zimbabwe are being banned by the government in order to promote the country’s domestic ferrochrome production.In June 2021 it banned the export of lumpy ore, and in July 2022 exports of chrome concentrates are due to be stopped. According to Zimbabwe’s information minister Monica Mutsvangwa, there are 22 ferrochrome smelters now operating in the country, and they are facing potential shortages of feedstock.The Zimbabwean Ministry of Mines & Mining Development estimates that the country has the world’s second-largest reserves of high-grade chromium ore after South Africa.Its 10 billion tons of deposits are around 12% of the global total.“We foresee a massive shift in ferrochrome production and exports from Zimbabwe,” says Ferreira.
