Maputo, Mozambique, 16 Feb – Work to finish the Sena railway line in Mozambique is to begin this month, the executive director of the company Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM), Marta Mapilele, said in Maputo.

Cited by the Mozambican newspaper O País, Mapilele said the work would consume between US$44 and 45 million and must be completed within six months. After that the line will be able to transport up to 6.6 million tonnes per year, the current capacity of the coal terminal at the port of Beira.

But before the work starts CFM will have to sign the termination contract with the former contractor, the consortium formed by the Indian state companies Rites and Ircon, a partner with CFM in managing the railway network in central Mozambique.

Studies will also be carried out to determine what work has to be done on the line to increase its capacity to 12 million tonnes per year in a first phase and subsequently to 18 million tonnes, to “meet the capacity of the coal terminal being built at the Beira port,” she said.

Mapilele, who made her comments on the sidelines of the CEO Experience conference held in Maputo, said that Brazil’s Vale and the Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto had already submitted their production plans to CFM, envisaging a need to transport about 5 million tonnes of coal, less than capacity after work on the Sena line is completed. (macauhub)