June 29, 2011
Agência Estado
Glauber Gonçalves
Vale is expected to export its first shipment of coal from Moatize Mine in Mozambique in October, the company’s sales and marketing manager, Marcelo Mattos, has announced. The company will conduct tests with selected customers this year and intends to begin full commercial operations as of 2012, said Mattos, without giving specific dates.
According to Mattos, the project will be implemented in two phases. In the first, coal production capacity will be 11 million metric tonnes per year – 8.5 million metallurgical and 2.5 million thermal. During this first phase, the mine’s output will be transported along the Beira corridor, whose initial transportation capacity is 6 million metric tonnes per year, which is expected to limit operations. “We are studying the possibility of raising Beira’s capacity, but obviously, until the railroad to Nacala is ready, we will be limited to Beira’s capacity," said Mattos at a seminar on coal held in Rio.
For the second phase, during which Moatize’s capacity will be doubled, Vale wants to use the Nacala corridor to export coal. Nacala’s capacity will be 18 million metric tonnes, and the railroad is expected to be in place by 2014. The Nacala corridor project should be submitted to Vale’s board in the third quarter, said Mattos. “We will be presenting the project to Vale’s board for approval in the third quarter. We are waiting for the license, which is at an advanced stage. This will not be a bottleneck,” he said.