Colombia's Frontier Coal to start port building in H2
Colombian coal company Frontier Coal and a partner plan to start building a 5 million tonne-a-year port on the Caribbean Sea in the second half of 2011 along with a river harbor, its chief executive said on Friday. Colombia, the world's No. 5 coal exporter,
expects to double coal output by 2019, but the sector complains that the lack of access to infrastructure is cutting exporter profits and raising prices at a time when Asian demand is rising.
"In the first semester we're finishing the engineering and in the second semester we'll begin construction. It'll take 18 months to be completed," Juan Manuel Ruiseco told Reuters in an interview, adding that the firm had all the permits.
"We're working on (selling capacity)."
Ruiseco said that Frontier Coal -- which exported 450,000 tonnes of thermal and PCI coal last year and expects a similar amount in 2011 -- along with an unnamed partner would invest around $30 million to $40 million in the sea and river ports.
The harbor at the mouth of the Magdalena River on the Caribbean sea will have a direct loader with a capacity of 30,000 tonnes per day and a storage capacity of 400,000 tonnes. The river port on the Magdalena will have a loading rate of 25,000 tonnes daily and storage of 250,000 tonnes, Ruiseco said.
Coal will be barged up the river to the port, he said. Frontier Coal uses Venezuelan ports currently to move its coal from Norte de Santander province in Colombia. Its coal quality is around 12,600 BTUs, Ruiseco said.
The coal industry in Colombia is dominated by big thermal producers with their own port and rail facilities such as Glencore, Drummond and Cerrejon, which is owned equally by BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Xstrata.
Coal players say that producers of thermal and metallurgical coal in the center of the Andean nation are hampered by high logistical costs and difficulty getting capacity at the ports.
Other private-led initiatives to build harbors include a 28-million-tonne-a-year Puerto Brisa, which is expected to begin operations toward the end of 2011.
The government also formally approved last year a 30-year concession for a 32 million tonnes-a-year coal port, majority shares owned by Glencore's Prodeco unit.
Mercuria, one of the world's largest private energy traders, opened a trading office in Bogota last year and purchased a Magdalena river barge business to transport coal and other commodities.
Colombia's coal production fell 5 million tonnes below the government's 2010 target, to 75 million tonnes last year as heavy rains hit output, according to preliminary figures from the mining regulator.
expects to double coal output by 2019, but the sector complains that the lack of access to infrastructure is cutting exporter profits and raising prices at a time when Asian demand is rising.
"In the first semester we're finishing the engineering and in the second semester we'll begin construction. It'll take 18 months to be completed," Juan Manuel Ruiseco told Reuters in an interview, adding that the firm had all the permits.
"We're working on (selling capacity)."
Ruiseco said that Frontier Coal -- which exported 450,000 tonnes of thermal and PCI coal last year and expects a similar amount in 2011 -- along with an unnamed partner would invest around $30 million to $40 million in the sea and river ports.
The harbor at the mouth of the Magdalena River on the Caribbean sea will have a direct loader with a capacity of 30,000 tonnes per day and a storage capacity of 400,000 tonnes. The river port on the Magdalena will have a loading rate of 25,000 tonnes daily and storage of 250,000 tonnes, Ruiseco said.
Coal will be barged up the river to the port, he said. Frontier Coal uses Venezuelan ports currently to move its coal from Norte de Santander province in Colombia. Its coal quality is around 12,600 BTUs, Ruiseco said.
The coal industry in Colombia is dominated by big thermal producers with their own port and rail facilities such as Glencore, Drummond and Cerrejon, which is owned equally by BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Xstrata.
Coal players say that producers of thermal and metallurgical coal in the center of the Andean nation are hampered by high logistical costs and difficulty getting capacity at the ports.
Other private-led initiatives to build harbors include a 28-million-tonne-a-year Puerto Brisa, which is expected to begin operations toward the end of 2011.
The government also formally approved last year a 30-year concession for a 32 million tonnes-a-year coal port, majority shares owned by Glencore's Prodeco unit.
Mercuria, one of the world's largest private energy traders, opened a trading office in Bogota last year and purchased a Magdalena river barge business to transport coal and other commodities.
Colombia's coal production fell 5 million tonnes below the government's 2010 target, to 75 million tonnes last year as heavy rains hit output, according to preliminary figures from the mining regulator.