bulk exports soar in may

http://www.businesslive.co.za/southafrica/sa_markets/2012/06/18/bulk-exports-soar-in-may

18 June, 2012 09:59

Bulk exports soar in May
South Africa records 23,9% growth in export volumes in May from 6,6% growth in 2011.

SOUTH Africa’s bulk export volumes soared by 23,9% year on year (y/y) in May, data from the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) showed.

Bulk exports rose by 6,6% to a record 141,493-million tons (Mt) in 2011 after a 9% jump in 2010. In the first five months of 2012, the annual increase was 9,9%.

The slower growth last year was in part due to weather-related disruptions and cable theft on the Mpumalanga-Richards Bay coal line, which resulted in derailments and other disruptions to traffic. The coal line was closed for 20 days in May and June 2011 to do necessary maintenance.

In October, exports out of Richards Bay exceeded 8Mt or an annualised 96Mt, but this eased to 7,3Mt in November before rising to 7,5Mt in December and 7,7 Mt or an annualised 92Mt in January 2012.

In May 2012, Richards Bay shipped 6,8Mt, a 32% y/y surge. Shipments for the first five months were up 17,8% on an annual basis.

Last year shipments out of Richards Bay, which are mostly coal, disappointed with a 1,4% rise to 76Mt in 2011, while mostly iron ore shipments out of Saldanha Bay increased by 12,3% to 53,3 Mt.

In January 2012, the year-on-year increases were 34,4% and 25% respectively, indicating that demand for these commodities remained very strong despite the global growth concerns.

The star performer last year was agricultural and manganese exports out of the other South African ports, such as Durban and Port Elizabeth, which jumped 18,7% to 12,2Mt. In May 2012, there was a 16,3% y/y increase to 1,3 Mt.

The majority of bulk exports go to Asia as China, India and Japan require South African coal and iron ore to feed their steel mills and thermal coal power stations.

As all nuclear power stations in Japan have now been closed down following safety concerns after the March 2011 earthquake, Japan requires more coal to burn in their thermal power stations, as nuclear power supplied about 30% of Japan’s electricity in 2010.