By Paul Burkhardt, Bloomberg.
South Africa’s state logistics company has ramped up deliveries of coal on the country’s main export rail line after addressing operational and security-related issues, according to Thungela Resources.
Transnet is on track to transport 55.5 million tons of coal from mines to the Richards Bay export terminal this year, which would be about 7% more than in 2024, Thungela said in a trading statement on Thursday. Shipments of the fuel from the terminal, Africa’s biggest, rose for the first time in seven years in 2024.
“The improved performance is mainly as a result of fewer security related issues, improved locomotive availability and reliability, largely due to the additional locomotives onto the North Corridor coal line,” said Thungela, which has six mining operations in South Africa’s eastern Mpumalanga province.
The company expects its coal exports to rise by 3.2% to 6.4 million tons in the first half of 2025, compared to the same period a year ago.
Coal prices have weakened however, with the Richards Bay benchmark price averaging $91.74 per ton for the year to date, compared to $105.30 in the last financial year, it said.