www.miningmx.com | energy Coal miners vie for RBCT export allocation

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Kuseni Dlamini, Head Anglo American SA

� The majority of our coal goes to the European Union - Kuseni Dlamini, RBCT
� Empowerment demand for extra capacity is there - Khuseni Dlamini, chairman of RBCT
� Question mark over RBCT expansion
� BEE coal firms want greater RBCT access

Coal miners vie for RBCT export allocation
Allan Seccombe
Posted: Fri, 01 Dec 2006

[miningmx.com] -- AN announcement will made in the second quarter of 2007 about which coal mining companies have won the tender to export nine million tonnes of coal a year through the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), chairman Kuseni Dlamini said on Friday.

RBCT is undergoing a R1.1bn expansion programme to raise export capacity by 19m tonnes to 91m tonnes in 2009.

Twenty-six companies applied for portions of the nine million tonne export allocation and they will be evaluated to ensure they have the capacity and longevity to warrant their inclusion, Dlamini said.

evaluating, validating and re-evaluating

At the end of September, there had been 52 expressions of interest in the allocation.

It was not immediately clear if the tender had been oversubscribed, something which could herald another expansion at the port which is growing capacity by 19m tonnes to 91m tonnes by 2009.

�We are still looking at the applications and it�s too early to comment on that. We will be evaluating, validating and re-evaluating the applications,� Dlamini told Miningmx.

�We are looking at announcing the outcome of the whole process in the second quarter of next year,� he added.

Dlamini said in September there could potentially be further expansion of RBCT beyond the 91m tonnes if the tender was oversubscribed and RBCT would know early next year whether there was sufficient demand to justify the economics of increasing capacity.

�We have made an explicit commitment to go beyond 91 million tons if there is a business case to go beyond it,� Dlamini said at the time, adding talks had started with the National Ports Authority to secure more land beyond the 280 hectares needed to accommodate the stockpiles and facilities to ship 91m tonnes.

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The applicants will receive a ranking for their empowerment component, a proven mining capacity, and whether they have commitments from state rail utility Spoornet to deliver the coal to RBCT. If the tender is oversubscribed, a company�s empowerment credentials will push it to the front of the queue.

RBCT is run by a 30-year-old organisation that has as members Anglo Coal, Eyesizwe, BHP Billiton�s Ingwe Collieries, Kangra Coal, Sasol, Total Coal SA and Xstrata, which dominate exports.

The remaining 10m tonnes of new export capacity will be made up of four million tonnes earmarked for smaller black economic empowerment mining companies, which produce export tonnages up to 250,000 tonnes, and a six million tonne allocation to South Dunes Coal Terminal, a two-thirds BEE-controlled company.

RBCT exported the most coal in its 30-year history last year when it shipped 69.2m tonnes of coal. However, that target is unlikely to be reached this year because of a number of factors, including rains and railing hiccups.

�The indications are that we are not going to be doing the same sort of tonnage as last year, when we achieved record tonnage because of certain factors that prevailed. Those factors did not prevail this year,� Dlamini said.

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