“COAL LINE UNDERUTILISED”
Posted on 26 March 2009
According to Mining Weekly, “vilified state-owned rail enterprise Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) says that it has ‘excess and underutilised capacity’ on its coal line and is puzzled by claims that rail constraints are limiting exports from Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), Durban and Maputo.
“TFR spokesperson Sandile Simelane, responding to an 11 March article in Mining Weekly Online, says that the article’s assessment of rail capacity to these ports is factually incorrect, and places undue and unwarranted concerns on the various role players.
“Simelane says that, while TFR is geared to handle orders of 1.45 million tons a week (Mt/w), coal exporters are ordering only 1.1 Mt/w. ‘We find it puzzling that anyone can claim that inadequate rail capacity is limiting exports to below-port capacity at RBCT while we sit with excess and underutilised capacity,’ Simelane says, adding that the enterprise intends investing additional capital in the coal line to RBCT, to align it with projected future growth.
“This proposed capital investment, he says, forms part of the state-owned enterprise’s strategy of ‘reducing transportation costs, reducing transit times and increasing capacity to move freight’, the overarching objective being the lowering of the cost of doing business in South Africa.
“On coal exports through the port of Maputo being rail constrained, Simelane says that the coal trains to Maputo have been increased from an average of 18 trains a week in January 2009, to a record high of 30 trains a week in March 2009, the rapid increase resulting from exporter demand and continuous engagement with Maputo coal-terminal owner Grindrod. More ramp-ups have also been agreed, in order to meet future export volumes.
“On rail capacity to Durban also failing to meet demand, Simelane says that the line is averaging only nine trains a week, 12 short of its capacity of 21 trains a week, prompting a relocation and redeployment of idle capacity to other coal flows.”
Related posts:
