A staple diet of bulk

The Richards Bay coal operation runs efficiently enough, albeit expensively, but the perennial problem of bottlenecks on the supplying rail line have taken their toll.

Despite Transnet’s investment in new and improved infrastructure it is still a long way from meeting an expanded annual capacity at the Richards Bay Coal Terminal of 91m tonnes.

On the other hand, Saldanha Port, South Africa’s predominant iron ore export facility, is also the subject of expansion plans – its iron ore facility will be taken up to 80m tonnes a year and there may be a 12m tonnes per year manganese terminal, which will help total volumes, if supporting infrastructure is put in place.

Taken as a whole, South African bulk operations will probably remain the bright spot in a somewhat murky picture for some time to come – helped, of course, by China’s massive economic drive and its consequent pull on both coal and iron.