Coal news and updates

Deal with Chinese supplier key for Transnet to haul more coal

South Africa’s freight rail operator is confronting regulatory hurdles that are hindering it from contracting with a Chinese supplier of locomotives and equipment to boost capacity on its lines, its chief executive officer said.

Transnet SOC Ltd. has come under fire from exporters of bulk commodities because it can’t supply them with adequate rail capacity at a time when demand is booming. Thungela Resources Ltd., Exxaro Resources Ltd. and other coal producers have resorted to using trucks to move their produce from vast inland fields in the eastern Mpumalanga province to ports.