A ship carrying the first 36,000 tons of coal mined by Indian-owned company JSPL Mozambique Minerais Wednesday left the port of Beira in Mozambique heading for India, the managing director of the company said.

Manoj Gupta, the managing director of JSPL Mozambique, which is controlled by Jindal Africa, which in its turn is owned by Indian conglomerate Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), said that the target set for this year was to export 1 million tons of coking and thermal coal.

Cited by Mozambican newspaper O País, Gupta said that the ship would return to Mozambique after unloading this first shipment, and the second shipment is expected to be made in June.

JSPL Mozambique has a coal terminal in the port of Beira holding 463,000 tons of coal, which was carried from the mine in the Chirodze area of the Songo district of Tete province by road on a daily average of between 15 and 20, over a distance of around 600 kilometres.

As road transport is very expensive the company is expected to start using the Sena railroad once five locomotives and 100 trucks arrive from India in June or July. (macauhub)