Richards Bay's 2008 coal exports down
miningweekly.com
By: Chanel Pringle
Published on 5th January 2009
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) shipped 6,6% less coal in 2008, when compared with the year before, it reported on Monday.
RBCT, the world’s largest single export coal terminal, shipped 61,79-million tons in 2008, compared with 66,15-million tons the year before.
RBCT COO Raymond Chirwa said that the terminal’s exports were based on a sustainable supply of coal and that the decline in the exports was not owing to the terminal’s performance.
He noted that the terminal had exported all the coal that it had received, as well as some coal from its stockpile, which stood at 2,3-billion tons at the end of December 2008.
Chirwa stated that the performance of Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) had to some extent played a part in the decline in coal exports from the terminal.
However, he added that TFR’s performance had improved in the last quarter of the year. He noted that if this performance had been sustained throughout the year, the RBCT’s exports could have been better.
The expansion of the terminal to a capacity of 91-million tons, up from the current 76-million tons, would continue, he added.
The expansion would cost the RBCT R1,2-billion and would be completed by June. |
