Nacala Integrated Logistics Corridor (CLN) gets the nod

At a Maputo ceremony the Mozambique government has just recently signed a concession bringing the Integrated Nacala Logistics Corridor (CLN) consortium officially to life, according to Mozambique press reports.

It is 80% owned by the Brazilian mining group Vale, and 20% by the state-owned port and rail company, CFM. The concession is for management and operation of the new port of Nacala-a-Velha (on the opposite side of Nacala Bay from the existing port). Also on coal traffic along a railway running from the Moatize coal basin through Malawi and re-entering Mozambique at Entre-Lagos, and hence to Nacala.

A different consortium, the Northern Development Corridor (CDN), already holds the concession on the railway for general traffic.

The first trainloads of coal along the railway should reach the new port in September, reports allAfrica.

The US$4.4 billion project includes the construction of a new rail link connecting Moatize to the Malawian rail system, and a major overhaul of the Malawian part of the line. The 77 kilometre stretch of the line between and the city of Cuamba is being rebuilt. There is also a new line branching off the existing rail corridor and running to the Nacala-a-Velha coal terminal.

The railway runs for over 900 kilometres, and a fleet of 100 locomotives and 2 700 wagons are required to meet CLN's projections for about 20 coal trains a day. The required ocean transport capacity will be supplied by an expected 12 ships a month calling at the Nacala-a-Velha coal terminal.