Coal stocks at the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) in South Africa hit a 44-week low this week, as ongoing disruption on the North Corridor export line restricted the amount of tonnage that could be railed to port.
Coal inventories fell by 11pc on the week to 1.95mn t, the lowest volume in store since 24 January.
A train derailment on 8 November led lines 1 and 2 of the export corridor to close. The train comprised 97 wagons of export coal, en route to Richards Bay.
Transnet said the second line was brought back to operation as of 19 November at 09:30 local time (07:30 GMT), following completion of the repair work between Bloubank and Nhlazatshe station. This was a day sooner than anticipated, the firm said.
The first line returned to operation on 18 November.
The derailment led railings to RBCT to plummet in November. Railings have averaged just 447,000 t/week in the month so far, less than half the weekly average in the year to date of 984,000t.
In the week to 20 November, railings rose 80pc to 313,000t, as the two north corridor lines became operational once more.
The derailment has contributed to a recovery in the NAR 6,000 kcal/kg fob Richards Bay price in the second half of November. The price has risen from $174/t on 1 November to $217.25/t on 22 November.
Over the same period, the NAR 6,000 kcal/kg cif Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp price has risen even more sharply, gaining $47.75/t to close at $234.55/t on 22 November.
The European price has been supported further by an ongoing rail blockade to Cerrejon's Puerto Bolivar terminal in Colombia. The blockade on the 150km railway ended today at 14:30 local time.
