BHP springs to defence as coal row escalates

[miningmx.com] – BHP Billiton Energy South Africa (Becsa) sprung to its defence today labelling comments by Transnet CEO Brian Molefe that it had denied coal export access to smaller miners as “unfounded assertions” and “far from the truth”.

Becsa president Manie Dreyer said in a press announcement that the company had held back new coal developments in South Africa because there was insufficient capacity at the 91 million tonnes/year (mtpa) Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), and that it was a 21% shareholder in the terminal whereas it owned 40% of its capacity 10 years ago.

“In all, over the past 12 years, BHP Billiton has been responsible for a total of 10mtpa of BEE export capacity at RBCT which is more than any other single RBCT shareholder,” said Dreyer.

Speaking at Transnet’s interim results yesterday, Molefe accused Becsa of refusing to hand over 1mpta of RBCT’s nameplate capacity to small black-owned mining companies. “That is why we want to use Richards Bay coal for the small guys. We fight for the small guys. That is what’s at the bottom of this coal hullabaloo”.

Dreyer responded that Molefe’s “unfounded assertions” created the impression that BHP Billiton was not committed to empowerment in South Africa. “This is far from the truth,” said Deyer who added that the company had been responsible for “numerous empowerment transactions since 2001”.

Some 8mtpa of BHP Billiton’s original port capacity of 26mtpa had been transferred to black owned companies while a further 1mtpa had been contributed to the Quattro scheme, an initiative with Government’s mineral resources department and RBCT in which a total of 4mtpa of export entitlement was handed over to black-owned companies.

A further 1mtpa of export entitlement was given to Exxaro Resources in the process of its formation following a merger of coal assets owned by BHP and Anglo American, Dreyer said.

“In 2005, BHP Billiton also elected not to take up its rightful share of the Phase V expansion at RBCT (a further 15Mtpa expansion of the port) in lieu of BEE miners taking up the additional capacity,” Dreyer said.

In a final barb of his barely concealed anger at Molefe, Dreyer added: “The reality is that TFR’s rail capacity does not even match the current port capacity of 91mtpa which means that none of the existing RBCT shareholders (including numerous BEE shareholders) have access to their own, nameplate capacity at the port”.

The clash between the privately-owned mining sector and Transnet would seem to put the seal on the two cooperating in building additional coal export capacity. RBCT told Miningmx earlier this month that is sought a joint venture with Transnet after it emerged the state-owned freight and logistics company was intent on building a 12mpta coal export facility in Richards Bay, near RBCT.

It’s understood that RBCT is preparing a statement of its own for release later today following an emergency board meeting of the terminal.