South Africa's state-owned rail operator Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) will close its coal-delivering north corridor for annual maintenance on 21 July-1 August.
TFR will carry out track renewals, signalling upgrades and major infrastructure repairs, sharply curtailing coal deliveries to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT). Coal movements during the maintenance window fell to 336,000t in 2024 and 125,000t in 2025. In comparison, TFR's average weekly deliveries to port were at 976,000t in 2024 and 1.06mn t in 2025.
The operator typically increases deliveries to RBCT in the weeks preceding the maintenance period to mitigate the effect of reduced rail availability during the shutdown.
While TFR has not issued a formal annual coal delivery target for this year, RBCT management — which is operationally dependent on TFR — said more than 60mn t of coal is expected to be delivered in 2026, alongside an internal ambition to sustain a 65mn t/yr run rate.
TFR transported 18.8mn t of coal by rail to RBCT on 1 January-20 April, equivalent to a weekly average of 1.17mn t, Argus data show.
RBCT accounts for about 90pc of South Africa's thermal coal exports, suggesting TFR is currently on track to move over 60mn t to the terminal on an annual basis.
