based Alcoa Inc. and the government. Cocoa, coffee, cotton are also shipped through Tema, which lies just east of Accra, the capital of the world's second-biggest cocoa grower and a major African gold producer. The port has seen business boom thanks to instability in West African neighbour Ivory Coast, but officials say it lacks the infrastructure to cope, with vessels sometimes having to wait for weeks before they can enter the port. The blaze destroyed a 300-metre stretch of conveyor belt linking the Valco smelter to the port, causing about $3 million worth of damage, a company executive said. It also destroyed the pumping room at the Tema oil refinery -- which has a capacity of 45,000 barrels a day, most of it for domestic use -- although officials said they did not expect any significant disruption to supplies.
