Thermal coal exports from South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) fell marginally on the week ending 18 August to 1.12mn t, a decline of 145,000t from a week earlier, terminal data show.
Despite the decline, exported volumes from RBCT remain well above the average weekly exports of 921,400t this year.
Stocks at the port fell to 2.79mn t as exported volumes exceeded rail receipts on the week. Railings of coal to RBCT were 944,000t, an increase of about 19,000t on the week.
Rail operator Transnet Freight Rail's (TFR) performance has been consistent since the end of June, delivering about an average of 1mn t of coal to the port weekly, barring the two weeks of July when the coal line was shut owing to planned maintenance.
Over 12-18 August, cargoes left RBCT for India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and China. Ahead of Europe's stocking season for winter, thermal coal cargoes also left for Rotterdam and the UK.
Separately, elevated fob Richards Bay NAR 6,000 kcal/kg prices, which touched their highest for the year on 12 August at $119.17/t, have capped demand from key markets such as India. Even though export deliveries for the week show over 1mn t of coal exported, traders and producers on the ground have expressed the cargoes being loaded are most likely those that were booked earlier in the year, with spot demand nearly absent at the current price levels.
Buyers have also expressed their inclination to link their coal cargoes to the Australian API 5 fob Newcastle index, but traders suggest sellers will not agree to such arrangements.
Transnet performance improves
TFR's performance has been criticised in the past for frequent failure to deliver coal to the port, causing uncertainty for producers to offer prompt tonnes. Derailments, cable theft and vandalism have hindered much of the performance, prompting utilities to load their produce on trucks instead.
But starting in August, TFR has increased the number of trains delivering coal to RBCT, moving tonnage from road to rail. Earlier this year, TFR increased the number of trains assigned weekly for coal deliveries to 28 from 21 previously. By 30 September, the number will go up to 32 trains a week, TFR said. It remains to be seen whether TFR's performance can be sustained at current levels.
RBCT chief executive Allan Waller said at a conference in July that Transnet's performance in the first half of the year had been poor because it set a budget target of 50mn t of coal exports for this year, but said it hoped to reach 55mn t. From January to July, exports were level pegged at last year's annualised rate of 47mn t.
South African mining firm Exxaro chief executive Nombasa Tsengwa said the firm had already witnessed the "bottom" of TFR's performance and did not see coal volumes railed to the export facilities falling below 40mn t for this year.
