South Africa’s bulk export volumes rose 9.5% year on year in
November to the third-highest monthly total of 16.21-million tonnes,
data from the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) showed on
Wednesday.
The record monthly tonnage of 16.4-million tonnes was achieved in
January 2015 and the April 2016 total of 16.22-million tonnes was
marginally more than the November 2016 figure.
The 15.4% annual drop in July to 11.6-million tonnes was in part due
to the closure of the coal line between Mpumalanga and Richards Bay for
the annual maintenance period between July 11 and July 24.
On average, 230,000 tonnes per day is railed down the corridor, but
export orders can be filled from the stockpile at Richards Bay Coal
Terminal during the maintenance period. The maintenance is normally
carried out in May, but shifted to July this year at the request of coal
miners, as overseas coal demand was seasonally weak due to the northern
hemisphere summer.
The June and April annual increases of 3.4% and 6.2% were the only
two rises in the first six months of 2016 after declines of 6.1%, 11.7%,
15.7% and 12.2% in May, March, February and January, respectively. This
followed a 7.3% increase for the whole of 2015 to a record annual
tonnage of 168-million tonnes. Despite the November, September, June and
April annual increases, total bulk exports are still down 3.7% in the
first 11 months of 2016.
Bulk exports out of Richards Bay, were up 17.5% annually in November
to a record 9.5-million tonnes after rising 4.5% in September to
8.1-million tonnes and plunging 18.5% year on year in July to
6.2-million tonnes from 6.9-million tonnes in June and growing by 8.2%
in 2015 to 93-million tonnes. As Richards Bay Coal Terminal no longer
releases operational statistics, economists are finding it more
difficult to track economic performance in SA in a timeous manner.
Despite the 40% plunge in the iron ore price in 2015, bulk exports
out of Saldanha, which are mostly of iron ore, were up 12.7% in 2015 to
63.4-million tonnes, but in July 2016 there was a 17.8% annual fall to
4.3-million tonnes before a 12.1% increase in August to 5.1-million
tonnes, a 20.5% surge in September to 5.9-million tonnes followed by a
12.5% gain in October to 4-million tonnes before easing to a 5.1% fall
in November to 5.2-million tonnes.
The surprise in the November data was a 29% annual rise in bulk
exports from other ports such as Durban to 1,227,385 tonnes. These
exports are mostly agricultural commodities, such as grains and sugar,
and there was a 19.3% fall for all of 2015 to 11.6-million tonnes due to
the drought, which extended into this year. In September, there was a
23.2% slump to 826,671 tons.
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