Hundreds Layd Off As Mozambican Coal Prices Slump

nsnbc : Falling commodity prices prompted at least three mining companies in Mozambique’s Tete province to suspend operations, resulting in hundreds of layoffs.

Mozambique_Coal_railwayMozambican President Felipe Nyusi who visited Tete learned that the Indian Venture Company Lda, Minas de Moatize and Jindal suspend operations.

The suspension of Jindal’s operations in the Marara district alone resulted in 250 layoffs while the company keeps 300 on its payroll to, as it said, maintain essential services.

Gracio Rosario, the Provincial Director of Mineral Resources said that Jindahl, which also is an India-based company, has practically stopped all mining activities. The company has limited its operations to processing, exports and administrative services only, said Rosario.

He added that almost all mining companies in the province were operating below capacity. The situation does not only cause unemployment but a loss in tax revenues and levies. Jindal has a 20 thousand hectare concession area valid for 25 years with an export capacity of 850,000 tons per year.

Rosario said “All mining companies face the same difficulty and each will be holding up according to their capabilities. Vale, for example, has also lowered production because of the crisis”.

Coal prices have consistently been falling since 2010. The recent drop in oil prices aggravated that situation. The price of coke has been falling from US$300 to US$100 per ton and thermal coal is selling currently for about US$60 per ton. Rosario noted that in this scenario, one of the alternatives for thermal coal is the construction of coal-fired electricity generating plants for which projects had been presented to the government for evaluation.

F/AK – nsnbc 28.05.2016

Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2016/05/28/slumping-coal-prices-grind-mozambican-mining-to-a-halt/

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes