It is reported that the shipment of the first 35,000 tonnes of coal from Moatize in Mozambique central Tete province was shipped from the port of Beira to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Mr Félix Machado head of the Marketing and Sales Department of Cornelder Moçambique said that the second ship for transporting coal from Moatize was expected to dock at the provincial capital of Sofala within a month.

The departure of the ship, according to the operations director of Vale Paulo Horta signals the end of the first phase of exploration at the Moatize coal mine and Vale Moçambique is now a large coal operator and exporter in Mozambique.

The Brazilian investment in Moatize which has a nominal production capacity of 11 tonnes of coal per year so far totals USD 1.6 billion and mining began last May.

The coal from Moatize will preferentially be placed in Asia, Europe and Africa and notable destinations for the product include Brazil, India, Japan and South Africa.

(Sourced from macauhub)