The decision by the historically transparent Richards Bay Coal Terminal to stop the usual free flow of the facts and figures on its operations speaks volumes for how sharp the competition has become in world seaborne coal. Prices have slipped close to seven-year lows in a market that remains oversupplied; and demand from the biggest Asian importers (India and China) remains uncertain. Little wonder that the vital stats on a coal export terminal with a capacity for 90-million tons a month and 700 ships a year now need to be held more closely to the chest. –Â GK
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), the largest in the world, has stopped publishing monthly operational updates detailing shipments of coal because it is “competitive information”, its chief executive said on Thursday.
“This information is commercial, it’s a competitive environment. RBCT has decided not to release it anymore,” Nosipho Siwisa-Damasane told Reuters.
The data that RBCT used to regularly publish included the amount of coal it exported each month and the tonnage of stocks it held – information that traders and other market players watched closely.
Siwisa-Damasane said RBCT remained on track to meet its target of 72 million tonnes of coal exports in 2014, up from the 71 million shipped last year.
RBCT, a major exporter of coal to Europe and Asia, moves the commodity on behalf of South African-based producers such as Exxaro, Glencore and Sasol which are also shareholders in terminal.
