Mozambique coal exports continue despite virus measures

Mozambican coal mining operations and exports will not be affected by a 30-day national state of emergency that started today in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

President Filipe Nyusi has issued a decree limiting the cross-border movement of people to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Mozambique has reported 10 confirmed infections but no deaths.

But the partial border closure does not apply to "matters of the state, humanitarian or health support and cargo transport", allowing many sectors, including mining, shipping and port operations, to continue as normal, albeit with some additional health and safety measures in place. Stricter measures will only be imposed when there is an exponential increase in infections.

Indian-owned Jindal Africa said it is continuing to produce coal and that Beira port remains open, with the firm shipping one cargo from the port today.

Beira loaded 1mn t of thermal and coking coal in January-June 2019, up from 975,000t in the same period of 2018. Thermal coal accounted for around 40pc of the coal loaded at the port in the first half of 2019. The bulk of the around 400,000t of thermal coal exports was shipped to India, with the exception of two cargoes going to Senegal.

Thermal coal cargoes leaving Beira typically have a calorific value of NAR 5,500 kcal/kg or NAR 5,800 kcal/kg, and are often procured by Indian and Middle Eastern cement manufacturers.

South African exports to Mozambique fell to 912,200t in the first half of 2019 from 1.5mn t in the same period of 2018.

By Elaine Mills