South Africa’s Richards Bay coal exports rise 3.3% in 2011

Africa’s largest coal export terminal, Richards Bay, saw its exports rise 3.3% to 65.5Mt in 2011, according to the terminal’s data.

One of the key reasons cited for the advance is the improvement in rail access. Until last year, coal producers Anglo American , BHP Billiton , Exxaro, Optimum Coal and Xstrata have been eager to export more coal to meet rising Chinese and Indian demand, but bottlenecks on the lines leading to the port have placed severe constraints on the coal miners.

As a result, State-owned logistics group Transnet has been investing heavily to upgrade its lines and to invest in new wagons and locomotives. However, export figures are still far below the coal terminal’s expanded capacity of 91Mt.