Vale Casts Doubt on Mozambique’s Coal Export Target

Pedro Gutemburg, the new chairman of Vale-Mozambique, the local subsidiary of the Brazilian mining giant, Vale, has cast doubt on the frequently quoted figure that Mozambique could, in the medium term, be exporting 100 million metric tons (mt) of coal a year. Gutemburg said in an interview published in the Maputo daily, Noticias, this was an extremely ambitious target. What would determine how much coal Mozambique mines and exports is the existence of a market, and whether Mozambique is competitive in that market, Gutemburg said. “The world market for coking coal is 300 million mt a year. Australia, which is the largest producer, has 160 million mt, and there are other producers such as Canada, the United States and Russia, with about 40 million mt,” he said. “It’s no good producing 100 million mt of coal, if you have nowhere to sell it.”