Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) is optimistic on the back of positive sentiment towards coal in the past year amid a renewed appetite for the fossil fuel among global insurance companies.
Coal had been seen as approaching the end of its life as the move towards renewables surged globally in response to the threat of climate change.
However, insurance giant Lloyds of London and asset manager BlackRock in 2025 backpedalled on their climate change commitments, reversing their earlier decisions to steer clear of coal.
Alan Waller, CEO of RBCT, told journalists this week the market for coal remains solid even beyond the global net-zero target for 2050.
“The sentiment has changed for coal. It was taboo to a large extent. We are even seeing with financial institutions that suddenly there is a soft view towards us. We have seen [this] with our insurers. We have had a couple of years of having difficulties placing our insurance, whereas last year it was a far simpler process,” he said.
Demand for high-quality coal from South Africa’s low-cost mines is strong despite Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) capacity constraints.
“South Africa still has high-quality coal and relatively efficient value chain systems from our low-cost mines. South African coal is hugely in demand in terms of that,” Waller said.
As part of rail reform to improve efficiencies, TFR was separated into Transnet Infrastructure Manager (TRIM) and TFR Operations Company to allow third-party access to the rail network.
Transnet also implemented a turnaround plan to arrest the decline in rail volumes to help ensure it tackles underperformance on bulk commodity routes, including the coal corridor.
While logistics reform unfolds, RBCT is approaching financial institutions for funding to help ensure even stronger rail volumes, Waller said.
RBCT is looking at external bank funding for the running of projects in collaboration with TRIM, he said. Based on agreed mechanisms, those funds will be recovered over a period of time.
“Yes, there is a bigger picture of rail reform, but the focus is any rail reform that is going to come will take two to three years; we don’t have two to three years to wait to get volumes back up.”
RBCT is investing R140m over the next five years into fully autonomous stockyard machines that will not affect jobs.
RBCT, established in 1976, is responsible for shipping coal from South African collieries to the global markets. Its owners include producers Sasol, Seriti Resources, Thungela Resources, African Rainbow Minerals, Exxaro, Glencore, Liberty Coal and it allocates export volumes to junior miners.
It has a capacity to export 91MT and reached a record in 2017 when it exported 76.47MT, driven by strong Asian demand.
Export volumes fell to their lowest in 30 years in 2023 at 47.21MT, but have been gradually inching up since then, reflecting the steps taken in Transnet’s turnaround plan
RBCT this week posted a 11% increase in volumes in 2025 to 57.66MT from 52.08MT in 2024. It said exports by junior mining companies were a success story after they exported 2.82MT in 2025 from 2.66MT a year earlier under the Quattro allocation.
Export destinations for South African coal remain unchanged, with Asia receiving almost 80% of local coal, the main destinations being India and Pakistan.
Cable theft had been reduced from 180km of stolen cables in 2024 to 59km in 2025
The export improvement signals the benefit of the collaboration with TFR to curb vandalism and cable theft on the north corridor, which moves coal from 69 collieries to RBCT for exports.
According to TRIM CEO Moshe Motlohi, cable theft had been reduced from 180km of stolen cables in 2024 to 59km in 2025.
In the year under review, 23 E locomotives were introduced on the corridor to plug the spares shortage gap caused by the impasse with the Chinese manufacturers.
The momentum is set to continue in the year ahead as RBCT expects to export up to 65MT of coal with improved signalling on the north corridor. Waller said there was an improved performance in January, which pointed towards a better showing ahead.
“I am going to push for 65MT. I think if we get the signalling on track, it is on the cards. The budget is 60MT; we would like to get above that. If January’s performance is anything to go by, the correct saying will be that by the end of the year we should be achieving a consistent 65MT rate.”
Acting MD for the north corridor Theo Botha said TFR expect exports to be at a minimum of 60MT.
“With the building blocks working with Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager, I think with the introduction of the 23 E’s, we have now gone through the teething phase. January has shown us that at least we have done the step change, and this is something that we can sustain,” Botha said.
Business Day
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