Johannesburg - Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) - the world's leading coal export terminal - saw a 5.6% year-on-year decline in tonnage shipped to 4.2 million tons in January. A further 786‚910 tons were booked under the 2012 allocation‚ even though they were shipped in January as the ships had berthed before midnight on December 31.
Last year RBCT shipped a total of 68.3 million tons‚ a 4.3% increase on 2011.
RBCT currently has a capacity to export 91 million tons per annum and in October will decide whether to expand that to 110 million tons in the sixth phase expansion plan.
Coal exports from RBCT in October 2011 reached a record shipment of 7 381.461 tons or an annualised 88.6 million tons.