Wagons roll
along country's
longest rail
distances
STEEL AND coal remain the bright stars in the otherwise financial gloom of Spoornet's operations. The parastatal's 1999/2000 contract with Saldanha Steel reached the R100 million mark.
Spoornet, one of the steel manufacturer's largest business partners, was awarded a 15-year contract to transport between 600 000 and
900 000 tons of coal to Saldanha Steel on a just-in-time basis. The sized and washed coal is railed in unit trains from the coal fields in the Delmas area as well as Iscor's Grootgeluk mine near Ellisras. The rail distance from the latter to Saldanha Steel is just under
2 200km, the longest rail distance for domestic coal in the country.
Saldanha Steel operates four coal stockpiles at its steel mill near the port of Saldanha. Two are reclaimed simultaneously while the other two are stacked with seven train loads of coal each. To ensure continuous production, Saldanha Steel switches from depleted stockpiles to stacked ones on the same day.
To satisfy the mill's logistical needs, Spoornet has dedicated 300 CCR-type rail wagons to this contract. These wagons are operated in six 50-wagon unit trains and each train has to cycle within seven days. During the current contract year which ends in March 2000 some 10 500 wagon loads of coal will have been railed to Saldanha, cumulatively having travelled 19,9 million kilometres by rail.
Saldanha Steel operates on modern materials handling principles, emphasising short turn-around cycles, computer control and minimised wastage. Spoornet thus had to design its service and infrastructure to ensure compliance. Consignments of coal are placed at the Saldanha Steel private siding, where the trains are offloaded through a fully automated rotary tippler within four hours.
Two Spoornet client co-ordinators operate on a shift basis from an on-site office in the logistics department of Saldanha Steel ensuring continuous interface. Consignments are constantly monitored, using computer technology to ensure swift re-planning and effective communication flows to all partners in the logistics chain.
To mark the R100 million achievement Spoornet's past chief executive officer, Braam le Roux together with his successor, Zandile Jakavula, visited Saldanha Steel on February 17 this year.
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