Bulk exports slip due to coal-line maintenance

10 Nov 2016

SA's bulk export volumes fell by 0.7% year-on-year in October to 12.80-million tons, Transnet National Ports Authority said on Wednesday. The record monthly volume of 16.4-million ton was achieved in January 2015.

Image Source: Transnet Port Terminals - Richards Bay Terminal

The 15.4% year-on-year drop in July to 11.6-million tonnes was, in part, due to the closure of the coal line between Mpumalanga and Richards Bay for the annual maintenance period between 11 July and 24 July.

On average, 230,000 tonnes per day is railed along the corridor, but export orders can be filled from the stockpile at Richards Bay Coal Terminal during the maintenance period. The maintenance is usually carried out in May, but shifted to July this year at the request of coal miners, as overseas coal demand is seasonally weak due to the Northern Hemisphere summer.

The June and April increases of 3.4% and 6.2% year on year were the only two rises in the first six months of 2016 after declines of 6.1%, 11.7%, 15.7% and 12.2% in May, March, February, and January respectively.

This followed a 7.3% increase in 2015 to a record annual tonnage of 168-million tonnes. Despite the September, June and April increases, total bulk exports are still down 5.1% in the first 10 months of 2016.

Bulk exports out of Richards Bay, which is mostly coal, 7.5-million tonnes after rising by 4.5% year on year in September to 8.1-million tonnes and plunging by 18.5% in July to 6.2-million tonnes from 6.9-million in June and growing by 8.2% in 2015 to 93-million. As Richards Bay Coal Terminal no longer releases operational statistics, economists are finding it more difficult to track SA's

Despite the 40% plunge in the iron ore price in 2015, bulk exports out of Saldanha, which are mostly iron ore, increased by 12.7% in 2015 to 63.4 Mt, but in July 2016 there was a 17.8% fall year on year to 4.3-million before a 12.1% increase in August to 5.1-million, a 20.5% surge in September to 5.9-million followed by a 12.5% gain in October to 4.0-million year on year.

The surprise in the October data was the 23.6% y/y rise in bulk exports from other ports such as Durban to 1,242,591 tonnes. These exports are mostly agricultural commodities, such as grains and sugar, and there was a 19.3% fall in 2015 to 11.6 Mt due to the drought, which extended into this year. In September, there was a 23.2% y/y slump to 826,671 tonnes.

Source: BDpro

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