No exports of SA coal to China over July-October
07 Nov 2014
November 7: There were no exports of coal from South Africa’s Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) to China for the fourth month running in October on low demand from the Asian country as its economy slows down.
According to data made available to ICMW by one of the promoters of the terminal, Chinese companies have stopped buying steam coal from South Africa after last procuring 164,999 tons of the material in June this year.
There were no exports of coal to China from South Africa in May 2014 either.
Incidentally, Chinese companies had imported 1,232,997 tons of coal from South Africa in October 2013.
With no imports in the third quarter of 2014, total exports of South African coal to China stood at 2,492,629 tons during the first ten months of 2014, down 76.68% from 10,690,553 tons exported during the corresponding period of 2013.
Following are the monthly details of coal imports by China from RBCT in 2014 and 2013 (in tons):
Months
|
2014 |
2013 |
January |
552,357 |
310,651 |
February |
491,631 |
1,394,225 |
March |
1,066,836 |
1,592,609 |
April |
216,806 |
792,517 |
May |
Nil |
767,568 |
June |
164,999 |
1,116,980 |
July |
Nil |
1,123,298 |
August |
Nil |
1,233,441 |
September |
Nil |
1,126,267 |
October |
Nil |
1,232,997 |
November |
|
1,036,828 |
December |
|
1,590,923 |
Total (Jan-Oct) |
2,492,629 |
10,690,553 |
Total (Jan-Dec) |
2,492,629 |
13,318,304 |