Coal terminal gets R475m injection

Terry Hutson
SOUTH DUNES Coal Terminal (SDCT) at the port of Richards Bay has received a finance package from Investec Bank worth R475 million, giving SDCT an 8,2% shareholding in Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT).
The expansion phase will increase the coal terminal capacity by 10 million tons to 82mt a year and provide SDCT, which is made up of a number of smaller coal producers, with access to exports and the port via the dedicated coal line for the first time.
SDCT was initially established as an alternative to Richards Bay Coal Terminal, the worldÕs largest single coal shipment terminal, to provide export opportunity to coal producers who had previously been forced to use smaller terminals at Durban or Maputo.
ÒThe South Dunes Coal Terminal Company is excited at this opportunity to promote further black economic participation in the coal industry,Ó said SDCT chairman Solly Moloko, who emphasised that SDCT had been structured specifically to allocate a significant amount of its entitlement to black economic empowerment groupings. A further entitlement has been earmarked for small producers, he said.
SDCT's participation constitutes 6,5% of the expansion phase for Richards Bay Coal Terminal and represents an annual 6,5mt of the additional exports.
Richards Bay Coal Terminal shareholders, of whom BHP Billiton (Ingwe Coal) and Anglo American (Anglo Coal) are the majors, will meet the remainder (R125m) of the cost of the expansion. Ingwe and Anglo Coal gave up their right to expansion at RBCT in favour of the SDCT project.