[miningmx.com] — RICHARDS Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) put in a strong performance during December, lifting South Africa’s coal exports for 2011 above the figure achieved the previous year in a feat which for most of the period seemed highly unlikely.
According to statistics released by RBCT on Monday, 8.1 million tonnes (Mt) of coal was shipped in December, with exports totalling 65.5Mt for 2011 – up 3.3% from 2010’s 63.4Mt.
This was South Africa’s best export performance since 2007, when the country shipped 65.98Mt.
Also of significance was the fact that in December the terminal operated in excess of its design capacity, as far as exports were concerned, at an annualised rate of 94.9Mt. RBCT said 78 vessels left the terminal compared to 55 in November.
RBCT achieved December’s figure by making some dent in its stockpiles, following improved deliveries by Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) during the second half of 2011. The terminal received 6Mt from TFR in December as deliveries totalled 65.7Mt per year. TFR’s deliveries also represented an annualised figure of 70.2Mt.
Stockpiles at the terminal stood at 3.2Mt end-December, up from 1.6Mt at the end of 2010, but lower than November’s 3.6Mt.
TFR train delivery in 2011 to RBCT almost doubled, with 761 trains making the journey from Mpumalanga to Richards Bay in December, up from only 435 in June.
