Richards Bay Coal Terminal reaches shipping milestone

Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) in South Africa, the world’s largest coal terminal, climbed to a record-high in 2013, as the facility shipped over 70 million t for the first time.

The terminal shipped 70.2 million t during 2013, compared with 68.3 million t in 2012. The facility also received 70.42 million t by rail, which represented an increase of 2.8% from 2012 totals.

“In 2013, RCBT has, for the first time, received and exported more than 70 million t of coal,” the terminal announced.

Companies including Glencore Xstrata, Anglo American and BHP Billiton Ltd make use of RBCT. The facility has the capacity to ship 91 million tpa of coal.

Almost 20 million t – or 28% of annual volume – of RBCT South African coal was shipped to eastern Asia, predominantly China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Europe received 14.6 million t, with western Europe alone receiving 9.1 million t during the year.

 According to the World Coal Association, South Africa is the seventh—largest producer of coal. The country’s state-owned power utility company, Eskom, uses coal to meet around 85% of South Africa’s power generation requirements. 

Edited from various sources by Sam Dodson

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/handling/06012014/shipping_milestone_for_south_african_port_378/