Richards Bay Coal Terminal Ltd, Africa’s largest coal-export facility, said shipments fell 24% in April, the biggest drop in nine months.
According to a Bloomberg report, shipments fell to 4.55 mt last month from 5.97 mt in the same month a year earlier. Stockpiles at the terminal increased to 4.19 mt, the highest since March 2007.
A market analyst said that the fall was due to the weak market, with producers reluctant to export or sell large amounts of coal due to poor prices.
RBCT is owned by South Africa’s largest coal exporters, including Anglo American Plc, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Xstrata Plc. It is the biggest source of coal for European power plants.
At its current shipment rate Richards Bay is expected to export 56.77 mt of coal this year, compared to the 61.79 mt it shipped in 2008 and 66.16 mt in 2007.
