Bloomberg Richards Bay Coal Shipments Fall to an 11-Month Low

May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Coal shipments from Richards Bay Coal Terminal, Africa’s biggest export facility for the fuel, fell to an 11-month low of 3.92 million metric tons in April.

Shipments fell from 4.55 million tons in the same month a year earlier, the terminal said, without giving reasons for the decline. Last month the facility exported 5.66 million tons.

There weren’t any problems at the port that may have accounted for the drop in exports, Raymond Chirwa, the terminal’s chief executive officer, said in an interview from the port on South Africa’s north east coast today. “We are just at the receiving end,” he said.

The terminal is Europe’s biggest source of coal burned for power and is owned by South Africa’s largest exporters of the fuel, including BHP Billiton Ltd., Anglo American Plc and Xstrata Plc. Prices for coal shipped through the port rose to their highest in almost 18 months, advancing 5.5 percent to $95.75 a ton, in the week ended April 30, according to IHS McCloskey

At the shipment rate so far this year, the terminal will export 56.8 million tons of coal for all of 2010, compared with its capacity of 91 million tons. Shipments came to 61.14 million tons in 2009.

During March, 5.61 million tons of coal arrived at the port by rail compared with 5.23 million tons a year earlier. Fifty- two ships docked at the port and 755 trains arrived laden with coal during the month.

Stocks were 4.62 million tons as of April 30.

Shipments from Richard’s Bay may be affected by a strike by employees of Transnet Ltd., the national ports and rail company, that is due to start on May 10. The company is in talks with labor unions in a bid to avert the labor action.

--Editors: Claudia Carpenter, Alastair Reed