Maputo — Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique (RTCM), the local subsidiary of the mining giant Rio Tinto, has announced that last year it spent about 250 million dollars in purchases from Mozambican companies.

The purchases were in areas such as construction, equipment, fuel, mining services, coal transport, staff transport, security, catering, consultancy services, and office material.

A Thursday release from RTCM says that this is an eight per cent increase on the 231 million dollars spent in 2011 on purchases from local suppliers.

RTCM has a business centre in the western Mozambican city of Tete, which is intended to ensure that small and medium companies benefit from the business opportunities provided by Rio Tinto.

The centre has been in operation since August 2012, and RTCM says that between August and December it registered over 150 companies interested in doing business with RTCM.

The business centre has an area where potential suppliers can present their products and services to Rio Tinto, and can learn about the company’s needs. The release claims that the centre provides assistance in registering suppliers in the Rio Tinto acquisitions system, and also “provides tools for establishing companies in areas with good business opportunities”.

RTCM adds that this year it intends “to develop a value chain formed mostly by local companies, particularly in Tete. In partnership with various national institutions, the Business Centre will establish, in the first quarter of this year, an annual agenda of business initiatives, in order to reach a greater understanding of the local business class, and promote greater interaction between RTCM and the small and medium companies”.