CHINESE INVESTMENT IN COKING COAL

The Mozambican authorities signed a memorandum of understanding on Feb. 24, 2017, in Maputo, under which a Chinese steel company will set up an industry to transform the thermal coal extracted from mines in Tete province into coking coal.

The plant, budgeted at around 1.3 billion US dollars, will be set up, not in Tete, but in the northern province of Nampula, in the transport corridor leading to the port of Nacala. The memorandum was signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Mozambican Ministry of Industry and Trade, Carla Soto, and by the chairperson of the Board of Directors of the company China Brasil Xinnenghuan International Investment (CBSteel), Zhang Shengsheng.

Witnessing the ceremony were the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Rajendra de Sousa, and the Chinese ambassador to Mozambique, Su Jian.
The plant is planned for a production capacity of four million tonnes of coking coal a year, and construction work is due to begin in the second half of this year. Speaking at the ceremony, Ragendra de Sousa said that setting up this type of industry will create “very attractive” economic conditions for investment. “For us Mozambicans, this project will contribute to better management of our raw materials”, he added. “We should thus increasingly build up the capacity of our local labour force, in order to accompany the growing competitiveness of industry”. None of the companies currently mining coal in Mozambique, such as the Brazilian and Indian mining companies Vale and Jindal, have a monopoly, he stressed, and the entry of CBSteel would create great competitiveness in the Nacala Corridor, which would be beneficial for the Mozambican economy. More info on www.aim.org.mz