Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) is South Africa’s major coal export terminal with a designed capacity of 91 MnT per annum.
RBCT has exported 37.25 MnT coal during the first half of 2017(Jan’17-Jun’17), according to the data compiled by CoalMint Research.
On the monthly basis, Exports have fallen by 6% from 6.86 MnT in May’17 to 6.48 MnT in Jun’17.
Coal exports have been continuously increasing since 2010, and reached high levels in 2015. However, owing to high coal prices, exports decreased by 4% Y-o-Y to 72.57 MnT in 2016, according to data provided by RBCT.
South African Coal Prices:
South African 6000 NAR coal average price is assessed at USD 78.94/MT, Fob Richards Bay during Jan’17-Jun’17 period. Coal prices have increased by 50% Y-o-Y compared with average price of USD 52.66 assessed during Jan’16-Jun’16.
South African coal index gradually increased from Jun’16 onwards and reached the highest levels since Jun’13 at USD 97-98 in Nov’16.
The reason behind the sudden rise in South African coal prices could be attributed to the high global coal prices. The strong buying affinity of Australian and Indonesian coal from China, coupled with coal supply shortages had pushed South African coal prices higher.
Coal Exports from South Africa is expected to remain stable this year due to fall in India’s share of coal and low demand from Europe.
Major Coal Importers in Jun’17:
India was the major Non-Coking coal importer from RBCT in Jun’17, followed by Taiwan, Pakistan, Spain and Netherlands.
Coal Imports from India decreased by 23% M-o-M to 2.68 MnT in Jun’17. During Jan’17-Jun’17, India has imported 15.91 MnT coal from RBCT, which accounts for more than 40% of the total coal exported by RBCT during that period.
Taiwan overtook Pakistan to become second-largest coal importer from RBCT in Jun’17. Taiwan has imported 0.49 MnT during the month, while imports from Pakistan were recorded at 0.43 MnT in Jun’17, down by 47% M-o-M.
Leave a Reply