Bigger coal exporters thrive despite global price drop

Despite a major drop in global commodity prices for coal, most of the bigger South African exporters are still thriving due to lower operational costs, said Siyabonga Gama, acting CEO of Transnet.

“Of course we would like to see an improvement in the global economic outlook for coal exports and we are seeing some of the smaller players taking a bit of a hit,“ Gama said during a media Q&A following the announcement of Transnet’s financial results earlier this week.

He said coal export volumes had increased by 12% from 68.2 million tonnes (mt) to 76.3mt because there was more product available to key customers and improved operational efficiencies on the export lines.

Gama told media he expected a marginal increase in export volumes for the current financial year. “We are projecting an increase to around 77mt and have signed agreements which will see us offload at least 95% of that volume,” he said