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totalled 787-million metric tonnes in the first half of 2013. The country imported 72% of global seaborne iron-ore exports,
which totalled 539-million tonnes.
FUEL
W.AFRICA CRUDE UNDER PRESSURE AS NIGERIAN EXPORTS PICK UP (The New Age, 23/7/2013)
West African crude oil differentials were seen under further pressure on Monday, as Nigeria's loading programme for
September came in slightly higher than for August, while Angolan cargoes sold slowly. Differentials for West African oil have
fallen due to lower purchases from Asian buyers and weak demand in Europe. Nigeria is set to export around 1.81 million
barrels of crude oil per day in September on 59 cargoes excluding the Bonny Light grade, shipping lists indicated on Monday.
The programme is above the one set for August when 1.72mn bpd were exported, according to revised programme data.
COAL
COAL EXPORTS RISE AS RAIL RESUMES (Zululand Observer, 23/7/2013)
Exports from the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) recovered to 5.3-million tons in June after dipping to 4.35-million
tons in May. Exports were slightly down from the 5.45-million tons shipped in June last year. Coal was shipped at an
annualised rate of 66.64-million tons in June, figures released earlier this month by the terminal showed. RBCT, which is
owned collectively by SA’s biggest coal producers and is the biggest single terminal of its kind in the world, shipped 68.34
million tons in 2012.
NATCOR SHUTDOWN (Railways Africa, 23/7/2013)
Shutting down important lines for concentrated maintenance over a period of about 10 days is an established practice,
notably on Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR) iron ore and coal heavy-haul corridors. Unfortunately the key Johannesburg-Durban
main-line, known as Natcor, carries a diversity of goods which means that a complete shutdown for more than two days is
out of the question. Many clients of several TFR business units (such as CAB – containers and automotive business – also
ABL – agriculture & bulk liquids) have limited stockpile capacity and cannot afford lengthy rail service downtime. This year,
train operations will cease late on Friday 26 July and resume on a limited scale three days later. During this time it is
intended to spend more than R126 million on maintenance and upgrading.
FREIGHT RATES DRAW SA COAL TO ASIA (FTW, 24/7/2013)
The recent plunge in freight rates has re-opened the price arbitrage for SA coal to move into Asia, sparking renewed interest
from Chinese buyers, trade sources said, according to a Reuters report carried by Hellenic Shipping News. However, industry
sources cautioned China’s demand for coal imports has weakened considerably over the past two months, and that it was
unlikely that there would a mad rush of orders for SA coal that was seen earlier this year.
TRANSNET
GAS LEAK CLOSES DURBAN CONTAINER TERMINAL (DCT) (FTW, 24/7/2013)
Another of what are now frequent gas leaks invading the Port of Durban’s container terminal area temporarily shut down the
Durban container terminal (DCT) Pier 2 for a time yesterday. The types of gas and the source appear not to have been made
public in this or past incidents although Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) and the Durban municipality have been involved. Two
Transnet Freight Rail News Briefs Page 2 of 8