More than 800m tonnes of it are traded annually, with about a fifth being seaborne trade to generate power and make steel, both essential items in the toolbox of economic growth, in foreign countries. That seabourne trade of coal has increased 180% since 1986 only serves to underline the importance of coal to shipping, and crucially, ports, who have had to step up to the challenge of mushrooming coal volumes.

And that continuing ability to cope is certainly going to be a priority if America’s Energy Information Administration has its calculations correct when it predicts a growth in global coal consumption of 74% between 2004 and 2030.

At the largest coal port of all, Richards Bay in South Africa, the fifth phase of expansion is on track for completion during the first half of next year. By then its annual capacity will have risen to 91m tonnes, but it doesn’t end there. Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) executive chairman Kuseni Dlamini says the port must work hard on behalf of coal producers, and spent much of last year examining the options for expansion beyond 91m tonnes. “As we have said from the beginning, RBCT is committed to the transformation of the South African coal export industry. We remain committed to the strategic vision of satisfying the aspirations of all sustainable coal exporters,” he says.

More than 700 ships already use the deep-water terminal each year, to be fed with coal transported 560 kilometres by South Africa’s Spoornet, the national rail utility.

The development at Richards Bay has a significant political element. Not only will more people be shareholders, but so will more of the country’s black population. In all, 4m tonnes of capacity is being made available to emerging Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) exporters, and a further 6mt tonnes will be taken up by the South Dunes Coal Terminal, which is under two-thirds BEE control. “Not only will RBCT’s expansion be supportive of transformation within our country, but it will also increase South Africa’s share of the global coal market and, more importantly, enable BEE coal mining companies to globalise their market footprints”, Mr Dlamini adds. 

Hot on the heels of Richards Bay is the development at Australia’s Dalrymple Bay, export location for coal from Queensland’s Bowen Basin. Authorities there are working hard to increase its annual throughput capacity by 50% to 85m tonnes, which it expects to achieve no later than February 2009.

Development was triggered by increased global demand for the Bowen’s Basin coal, and subsequent requests for more capacity from users being squeezed by a supply chain under stress. The port felt an obligation to its users to make capacity available for them, and is achieving it in part by seeking efficiencies in the way it operates. Stockyard space is being maximised through the introduction of differently-shaped stockpiles, and there is no longer a conflict between incoming and outgoing coal, since each row of stock has a dedicated machine to service it.

Coal’s trade patterns are also going to change as the focus of demand changes. It’s China again that provides much of the focus, having recently become a net importer for the first time ever, rather than a major exporter. The result of that, and increasing demand from other economies, is that consumers are having to look elsewhere for their supplies. According to American energy industry commentator Elliott Gue that means they’re going to have to look to the location of the world’s largest reserves – America. It has an estimated 27% of what’s left on the planet, with 90bn tonnes more than Russia, which sits at number two in the table.

Mr Gue uses data from the US Energy Information Administration to illustrate a shift in the trend of his country’s coal exports. Having hit an all-time low in 2006, the numbers are on the up again, with almost half of the tonnage coming to Europe. “China’s shift to becoming a net importer is a change of epic proportions,” says Mr Gue, pointing out that less than five years ago the country was exporting more than 80m tonnes of thermal coal.

“Europe’s likely solution is to import more coal from the US. Coal process are far lower in the US than in Europe, and the weak dollar makes it cost-effective to import American coal.” Even factoring in the transport cost, coal from America is cheaper than that mined in Europe, he points out.

Already consumers used to arranging one-off shipments are looking to set up long-term supply deals as a result of genuine concern for security of that supply, and that hasn’t happened for a more than a decade, he adds.