Record-breaking coal deliveries at Richards Bay
South Africa’s Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) attributes its record-breaking 2013 performance to the initiatives recently undertaken by the company to improve the country’s coal supply chain.
The RBCT reports that this year’s performance is expected to improve, reflecting further improvements in the supply chain.
Last year, a record 70.8-million tons of coal passed through the RBCT, two-million tons more than in 2012.
The RBCT reports that its previous record in export tonnage was in 2005, when 68.72-million tons passed through the terminal.
TheRBCT says its communication and coordination with State-owned freight-logistics group Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has improved as a result of the joint planning and coordinating of operational issues.
Last year marked the first phase of an improvement project requiring the RBCT to focus on stabilising and improving internal efficiencies.
The second phase of the supply chain improvement project will involve realising the full benefits of TFR’s Shongololo initiative, which involves rail wagons bypassing the Ermelo rail yard and shipping coal directly to the RBCT. The wagons then embark on the same shortcut back to the mines, thereby reducing cycle times.
Setbacks
Meanwhile, the RBCT suspended all operations, including the export coal train service, following a power failure at the end of January.
The electrical failure was caused when the uMhlatuze municipality reported electrical faults on the two electricity cables that supply the Hydra electricity substation, which supplies the RBCT with power.
However, during the power failure, the general freight business continued unhindered.
A joint operation between TFR, the RBCT, State-owned power utility Eskom and the uMhlatuze municipality ensured that the system was up and running again by the first week of February.
Rail operations were operating normally again within 48 hours after electricity had been restored. At the time, the RBCT had 3.83-million tons of stock in its terminal, while 28 ships remained at anchorage, waiting to load 3.1-million tons.
Once electricity had been restored at the RBCT, shiploading operations started with a three-ship loader schedule. Once the rail network had stabilised, the RBCT returned to its normal four-ship loading schedule.
Based on the vessel queue at the time and taking into account the RBCT’s capacity of 91-million tons yearly, operations at the RBCT are expected to return to normal by March 31.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation