Annual Exports Fall Short at Richards Bay
South Africa’s Richards Bay Coal Terminal
(RBCT), the world’s largest coal-export
facility, said shipments fell for a fourth
straight year in 2008 because of lower
demand and erratic rail service, according
to Bloomberg. RBCT shipped 61.79 million
mt of coal last year, 6.6% less than the
66.16 million mt exported in 2007. The
pace of exports improved in the last quarter
of the year. Derailments, a shortage of
capacity on the rail lines and lower orders
confined deliveries to 62.66 million mt.
The terminal, which currently has the
capacity to ship 76 million mt of coal annually,
will expand to 91 million mt in 2009.
As featured in Womp 09 Vol 01 - www.womp-int.com