The Southern Port of Mtwara is recording a significant upturn in volume of shipments precisely from consignments of coal exports passing through the harbour.
Likewise the Port is also experiencing an upsurge of earnings from cargo handling activities.
This is due to an increasing number of shipping companies as well as export and import agencies that are opting to use the southern harbour as their alternative gateway.
The Mtwara Port now also handles consignments of minerals exports from Tanzania and neighbouring countries.
The Southern Port which ranks third after Dar-es-salaam and Tanga has shipped 721,000 tons of cargo in the seven month’s period between July 2022 and January 2023.
The Acting Port Manager, Engineer Nobert Kalembwe reveals their target is to handle more than 402,000 tons of cargo in the ongoing fiscal year 2022-2023.
“We have managed to surpass the set targets, due to the on-going positive developments in the coal mining industry taking shape in Njombe and Ruvuma regions,” Engineer Kalembwe stated.
The Ruvuma Coal Limited and Jitegemee Holdings Company happen to be the major entities pumping business into the Mtwara port.
The two companies export their coal consignments to various overseas destinations.
Seven other establishments are in the process of channelling shipments through the Mtwara Port.
These include the National Mining Corporation (STAMICO), Gold Walk Limited, SEBDO, Aria Commodities International Limited, Marine Tech, Market-Insight and BECO are among the companies that were finalizing vital processes to start coal through the port.
Coals mined from Tanzania are often exported to India, Senegal, France, Egypt, Poland, Zanzibar, Ghana, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo-DRC) and the Netherlands.
Now Mtwara port is slowly but surely becoming the sea gateway to the eleven foreign destinations.
The General Manager of Aria Commodities International Limited Seleman Kikwete says his company handled between 300 and 600 tons of coal every day.
The coal comes from Songea in Ruvuma region.
Nearly 60,000 tons of coal from the said shipment is in the line-up to be ferried abroad.
The Mtwara Branch Manager for the Ruvuma Coal Company Said Ghaddaf, explained that since inception of the company, about 15 months ago, they have managed to export 990,000 tons of coal and counting.
Operating under the Tanzania Ports Authority, the Mtwara harbour docked on the southern coastline near the border with Mozambique is located 578 kilometers south of Dar es salaam City.
Statistics at the Tanzania Mining Commission (TMC) indicate that Tanzania produced 1.5 million tons of coal worth USD 211 million during the 2021/22 fiscal year.
More than 800,000 tons of the produced coal was sold abroad and at least 600,000 tons were marketed within the country, especially at cement factories.
The Mtwara Region Resident Mining Officer, Engineer Ephrahim Mushi (first left) receiving updates on coal exports from the Aria Commodities International Limited (Photo by Valentine Oforo)
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