The first test for loading coal at the provisional terminal built at the port of Beira, in Mozambique’s Sofala province, was successfully concluded, according to the head of the marketing and sales department of Cornelder de Moçambique, Félix Machado.
Speaking to Mozambiquan daily newspaper Notícias, Machado also said that the Bulk Zambeze ship, with a capacity to carry 35 000-tonnes, had left the port to go out to sea where it would unload the coal onto a Panamax ship, with capacity to carry 60 000-t.
The cargo was made up of coal mined in the Moatize district of Tete province, by Vale Moçambique a subsidiary of Brazilian group Vale, and has been exported to Asian markets.
The port of Beira processed over 246 000-t of coal from Vale Moçambique for export markets between August 2010 and January 2011, using barges that carried the coal from the port to ships anchored out at sea.
Although the provisional coal terminal has started operating, under the terms of the agreement signed by Cornelder de Moçambique and Vale Moçambique, the cargo will still be handled manually at the Port of Beira.
Machado noted that Cornelder de Moçambique was aware that the installed capacity of the Port of Beira, specifically for coal, was not enough to process all the coal in Tete, and in the Southern Africa region, as neighbouring Zimbabwe is also looking for a port to export its own coal.
