Japanese group Mitsui & Co plans to acquire a stake in a coal project of Brazilian group Vale in Moatize, in Mozambique’s Tete Province, according to Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei.

The newspaper said that Mitsui would buy a 15 percent stake in Vale Mozambique, the Mozambican subsidiary of Brazilian group, for US$450 million.

The same source also said the Japanese group would acquire half of the 70 percent that the Vale group has in the Nacala Corridor, which has Mozambican state port and rail company CFM as a partner.

The Nacala Corridor includes a railway between Moatize and Nacala, via Malawi and the deep water port of Nacala. A test train successfully completed a round journey on this route last week.

Mitsui & Co group is involved in natural gas exploration in Mozambique and has a 20-percent stake in the Area 1 concession of the Rovuma Basin, led and operated by US group Anadarko Petroleum. – macauhub