South Africa’s coal industry will continue to develop to meet domestic energy demands, and the thermal coal needs of India, Europe and Asia, says international coal markets specialist McCloskey Group chairperson and founder Gerard McCloskey, who will be speaking at the Commodities Outlook and Review Forum at this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba, in Cape Town.
McCloskey Group notes that India’s thermal coal imports in 2010/11 were thought to have been about 75-million tons and, with imports for 2011/12 projected to reach around 90-million tons, South Africa is looking towards securing a large part of this tonnage.
Meanwhile, the company notes that South Africa continues to have an advantage over its competition when port load rates and ship draft are compared, but that there are emerging uncertainties surrounding the ongoing reliability of State-owned freight logistics group Transnet’s service.
In addition, talk of nationalisation in South Africa is continuing and the company claims that this is starting to strangle inward investment and is increasing South Africa’s market risk.
With a greater range of coal qualities being accepted by utilities, Eskom is under pressure to secure its domestic coal resources, which may impact on black-empowered coal producers, the company says.
McCloskey is considered by many to be an authority on coal, and has advised numerous banks and power, steel and coal companies globally, as well as addressed European and British Parliamentary assemblies and specialist committees.
His company specialises in news, data and analysis on the international coal markets, as well as organising global conferences, and has extensive publication and consultancy divisions.
McCloskey studied economics at the London School of Eco-nomics in the 1960s and worked as a journalist in the UK’s Midlands and West Country before joining the UK Depart-ment of Energy as press advisor to a series of Ministers.
He then returned to journalism and was recruited to the Financial Times to run its growing number of newsletters.
In 1987, the first of the McCloskey Group companies, McCloskey Coal Information Services, was established, with McCloskey initially working with the Financial Times before breaking with them at the end of December 2000, having by that time been the editor of the International Coal Report for 20 years.
McCloskey Group now publishes five regular coal newsletters, including the McCloskey Coal Report, stages 14 annual conferences around the world and is planning to expand both of these and all the company’s other activities.
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