The Moatize-Macuse Logistics Corridor, the largest infrastructure project in Mozambique, has reached its final stage, with the launch scheduled for 2019 and completion in 2022, according to a new newsletter, China-Lusophone Brief (CLBrief). The 639 km-railway will transport coal from the mines of Moatize and Chitima in Tete to a new floating coal terminal off the coast at Macuse, Zambezia, just north of Quelimane.
Coal prices have doubled since their low two years ago, reaching $100/tonne for thermal coal and $175/t for coking coal. Most coal is now exported via Nacala along a railway that is almost twice as long as the proposed Macuse line, and it costs more than $50/t to ship the coal by railway. The shorter Macuse line would cut that substantially, making thermal coal profitable again.
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