Coal exports from South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) in 2022 hit the lowest since 1993 at 50.35 million tonnes, as rail supply was heavily curbed from mines to port amid a lack of trains, according to a Reuters report.

This came despite a more than six-fold increase in exports to Europe last year, at 14.3 million tonnes, compared with 2.3 million tonnes in 2021, RBCT said on January 26, as European countries were grappling with alternatives to Russian supply after the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The terminal, which can only accept coal by train, saw an average of 18 trains a day in 2022, far below its capacity of 32 a day. Some coal miners tried to truck their product instead as the rail service deteriorated.

South Africa's state rail operator Transnet targets to deliver at least 60 million tonnes to the terminal in 2022, but problems such as derailment, strike, infrastructure vandalism and copper theft put the supply in check.

In November, a train carrying coal on the North Corridor line that runs to the RBCT derailed near Ulundi in Kwazulu-Natal province, South Africa, leading to supply disruption for nearly two weeks. This, together with a 12-day strike in October, is expected to reduce the export by about 5 million tonnes from the terminal.

The terminal has set a target to export 60 million tonnes in 2023.

(Writing by Alex Guo  Editing by Tammy Yang)
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