Investment in modernising the port of Nacala has formally begun following the take-over of the management of the port by joint venture company CDN (Northern Development Corridor).
Portos do Norte, which was responsible for both the management and operations of the port, will now be handling operations. This will allow CDN to market its railway concessions through Malawi into the central Tete region in Mozambique, as well as a branch line into central Malawi as a package together with the port.
The rehabilitation of the port of Nacala is being financed by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica), and is budgeted at US$274 million. Speaking at the official launch of the modernisation programme, Mozambican transport minister Carlos Mesquita said that after rehabilitation the port would be able to handle 250 000 containers a year rather than the current 170 000. Vessels of up to 120 000 tons would be able to dock at the port. The Nacala corridor includes rail links of 807 kilometres from Blantyre to Nacala, 988 kilometres from Kanengo (Lilongwe) to Nacala and 1 150 kilometres from Chipata (Zambia).
FTW understands there are plans to provide a rail link from the Zambian border at Chipata, where a dry port is on the drawing board. CDN, which is a joint venture between Brazilian mining giant and Japanese conglomerate Mitsui, has a concession to run four million tons of general cargo on the line built by Vale to carry coal from Tete through Malawi to Nacala.
According to CDN, there was a 5% growth in general cargo carried on the line in the first half of 2018.
