Vale has purchased a 51% stake in Sociedade de Desenvolvimento do Corredor do Norte SA (SDCN), from Mozambican company Insitec SGPS SA (Insitec). The acquisition will make possible the logistics infrastructure necessary for the production flow resulting from the second phase of development at the Moatize coal project (Moatize II).
As part of the first stage of development a coal washing plant with an annual capacity of 26 million metric tons is currently being built. Initially, in the first phase, coal produced will be transported by the Linha do Sena railroad to be shipped from Port da Beira.
Alternative logistics infrastructure will benefit Central and Eastern Africa
As well as underpinning the expansion in capacity at Moatize, the logistics infrastructure constitutes an excellent alternative to transport production from the copper belt of Zambia to the east coast of Africa. Projects such as Konkola North in Zambia and the phosphate rock reserves at Evate in Mozambique could benefit from improved transport links along the Zambia-Malawi-Mozambique axis.
With the goal of having world-class logistics infrastructure for the movement of production in Central and Eastern Africa, Vale is also investing in the expansion of the Nacala logistics corridor. Investment will include the construction of rail links needed to meet the production flow from Moatize and a new deepwater marine terminal at Nacala.