[miningmx.com] — TRANSNET Freight Rail (TFR) has delivered 67.5 million
tonnes (Mt) of export coal to Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) during its past
financial year to end-March.
This represents a 9% improvement on 2011’s 62.17Mt, and is in line with Transnet
CEO Brian Molefe’s target of 75Mt for the logistic group’s 2013 financial year.
Molefe told Miningmx earlier this week that TFR would’ve exceeded 70Mt if all
coal producers were able to keep up with the number trains. He said feedback from
miners showed that some were still sceptic over whether TFR would be able to
sustain the current rate, holding back on increasing mine production.
RBCT’s data for March, released on Thursday, showed deliveries for the month totalled
6.19Mt, equalling an annualised rate of 74.29Mt.
Transnet on Monday raised the curtain on its recently announced R300bn expansion
programme, saying it included an ambition to take thermal coal rail capacity to 98Mt
per year by 2019.
RBCT shipped 6.24Mt of coal in March, representing an annualised rate of 73.47Mt.
