The world hears a lot about China cutting metals imports as its economy enters a new consumer-led phase, which is why the Asian giant’s importation of 24% more ferrochrome from South Africa last year surprises on the upside. Johannesburg-listed ferrochrome company Merafe, which generates revenue and operating income primarily from its chrome venture with mining and marketing major Glencore, reported last week that South Africa not only seriously outdid 2014 by exporting 2.6-million tonnes of ferrochrome to China last year, but exports of chrome ore from South Africa also rose 31.8% year-on-year. All these factors coming together at a time of lower rand:dollar exchange rates saw Merafe’s cash generation go through the roof, as can be read on page 13 of this edition of Mining Weekly. The Glencore proxy’s weak-rand-boosted operating activities generated 212% more cash to R956-million on a 13%-higher 377 000 t, despite the 12% net decline in the ferrochrome price.

Signs of an early recovery in the outlook for coal are being reported by the biggest of the big as well as small participants in the seaborne steam coal market. Unlike iron-ore, which is set to remain in the over- supply doldrums for some time still, the timeous cutting of thermal coal output in 2014 is helping coal to come off the bottom right now. “Coal is looking interesting. A lot of changes. A lot of dynamics. A lot happening in the coal market,” Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg said in response to Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly during a media conference call earlier this month. On page 9 of this edition of Mining Weekly, outgoing Exxaro FD Wim de Klerk comments: “I think we’re through the trough.” Glasenberg remarked that he had never seen a situation of no new coal mines being built anywhere in the world in his 32 years in the coal business. He foresees seaborne coal supply falling to 870-million tonnes this year, from 900-million-tonnes before. To watch a video on the Exxaro top brass commenting on coal’s bottoming, scan the barcode on page 9 with your phone’s QR reader, or go to Video Reports on www.miningweekly.com.

Meanwhile, outgoing Sasol CEO David Constable made it clear during last week’s presentation of half-year results, which saw profit from operations halved to R14.9-billion on average Brent crude oil prices of $47/bl, that there was no issue with the supply of coal to the company’s synfuel-from-coal plants in Mpumalanga. As reported on page 15 of this edition of Mining Weekly, uninterrupted coal supply to Sasol’s synfuel operations is assured, owing to supply from the newly commissioned Impumelelo colliery and upcoming supply from the Shondoni coal mine, with both mines being part of a R14-billion coal mine replacement programme. In total, Sasol is able to produce coal at a rate of 40-million tonnes a year from one of the world’s largest underground coal mining complexes. Sasol Mining’s half-year operating profit in the six months to December 31 was up 5% to R2.359-billion, which the company attributed to stability, along with meaningful contributions from its business performance enhancement and response plan levers. Total liquid fuels production by the company’s energy business increased by 4% to 1.1-million barrels on a higher portion of synfuel volumes being used by the energy business.