Coal may not be much loved at the moment, but it remains much needed, especially by economies gathering pace on the back of a waning pandemic – for now at least (fingers crossed).
According to news service Bloomberg, the Port of Maputo is seeing strong volume increments of the maligned commodity, especially by Grindrod.
At its wholly owned dry bulk terminal at the port, coal exports are on the verge of soaring from 1.5 million tonnes to 4.5 million tonnes by the end of June.
At the port’s other coal terminal, Matola, Grindrod, which holds a 65% share in the terminal, will increase coal volume to 12 million tonnes annually.
Currently, the short to medium-term output of the terminal is 7.3 million tonnes.
Plans by Grindrod to triple capacity at its dry bulk terminals, Bloomberg said, “come as demand for coal has surged, with economies bouncing back from Covid-19, and South African mining companies are searching for alternatives to export their goods due to snarl-ups at the nation’s own ports and railways, potentially costing billions of dollars in lost revenue”.