Zimbabwe has added a new railway export channel for lithium concentrate.

Zimbabwe National Railways, in cooperation with private operators, has gained the capability to transport lithium concentrate by railway to the Port of Maputo in Mozambique, adding a new logistics option for Zimbabwe's lithium ore exports. Previously, Zimbabwe's lithium concentrate was mainly transported by road, which featured high costs and was confronted with logistics bottlenecks such as road congestion.

Zimbabwe National Railways stated that it has cooperated with Beitbridge-Bulawayo Railway under South Africa's Grindrod and Zimbabwean logistics enterprise Silvergill, and has shipped the first batch of 1,000 tons of lithium concentrate from Gwanda Lithium Mine under Tsingshan Holding Group to Maputo. The goods are first transported 180 kilometers by railway to Beitbridge, then arrive at Chicualacuala, the border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, via the approximately 300-kilometer line of Zimbabwe National Railways, and are subsequently transported to Maputo through the approximately 522-kilometer Limpopo Railway in Mozambique, with a total railway transport distance of around 1,000 kilometers.

Reports show that due to long-term insufficient government investment, the annual freight volume of Zimbabwe National Railways has dropped from 12 million tons at its peak in the 1990s to 2 million tons in 2025. Most of Zimbabwe's lithium mines are located along the east-west railway corridor leading to Mozambique's ports, and lithium products are mainly exported to China through ports in Mozambique.

Source: Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Zimbabwe