all the doomsdayers, page-2

Some more good news courtesy of Transnet & RBCT:

Transnet expects to rail more than 70MT of coal in 2012 financial year

By: Terence Creamer

10th January 2012

Updated 44 minutes ago

KOEDOESPOORT (miningweekly.com) – South Africa’s State-owned freight logistics group Transnet indicated on Tuesday that it was on track to deliver between 70-million and 72-million tons of coal to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) by its financial year-end on March 31, 2012.

During its previous financial year, it moved 62.2-million tons of coal, against a target of 65-million tons and it had set a target of 70-million for the 2011/12 financial period.

Speaking at a ceremony in Koedoespoort, north of Pretoria, at which the group announced that it would buy an additional 43 diesel-electric locomotives from General Electric, over-and-above the 100 announced in 2009, CEO Brian Molefe indicated that he was expecting total rail volumes to rise by 9% in the year, to around 200-million tons.

The performance of the coal corridor had improved in the second half of the year, with the performance during the first half having been affected by a 20-day maintenance shutdown.

In the interim period to September 30, 2011, rail volumes on the coal-export corridor grew by a modest 2.6% to 31.3-million when compared with the 30.5-million tons railed in the same period of 2010.

But Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) COO Mlamuli Buthelezi indicated that the unit was on track to deliver between 70-million and 72-million tons along the coal corridor by year-end.

Earlier, RBCT confirmed that it had exported of over 65.5-million tons of coal during 2011, an increase of 3.3% from the 63.4-million tons exported in 2010.

The privately owned terminal also confirmed that 8-million tons had been exported in December, a significant improvement on the 6.1-million tons shipped during December 2010.

But Molefe warned that TFR’s performance could be affected by the fact that the stockpiling areas at RBCT were becoming congested. RBCT indicated that it ended December with a stock holding of just under 3.3-million tons.

Transnet would also unveil a partnership with Swazi Rail later this week, which could ensure that general freight volumes were diverted through that country in a bid to release capacity on the coal line from Mpumalanga to Richards Bay.

RBCT currently has a nameplate capacity of 91-million tons a year, while the coal line is limited to around 72-million tons. However, should a R12.3-billion freight line be expanded through Swaziland, the capacity of the coal line could grow to over 95-million tons “within five to six years”.

Meanwhile, Buthelezi also indicated that TFR was “chasing” a target of 54-million tons on the iron-ore line, as well as around 82-million tons of general freight deliveries by year-end.

Should it achieve those iron-ore volumes, it would be a material improvement on the 46.2-million tons moved in 2011, while bettering a 2012 budget of 51.6-million tons.

“We intend to increase our overall volumes . . . by about 9%. We are on schedule to do that for the total handling of goods,” Molefe said, noting that the average yearly volume growth over the last decade had been around 2%.

He added that the additional locomotives being acquired should also ensure that future volume target could be achieved and sustained.