South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal exported 5.16 million mt of coal in August down 16.2%, or 1 million mt, from July and 12.3% year on year and the lowest since May, according to the latest data released by the operator Monday.
Excluding the amount exported in May each year -- when maintenance taking place on the coal line reduces railings to the port -- and January -- when volumes are normally lower, coming on the back of a seasonal push out by producers each December to avoid any shortfall in their annual shipping program -- August exports were actually the lowest since September 2011. RBCT said the exports were shipped in 31 Capesize vessels, seven Panamax ships and eight Handysize cargoes.
According to RBCT's export destinations breakdown, the largest portion -- 36% or 1.89 million mt -- went to East Asia, which includes China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan among others.
South Asia -- which received the largest chunk of exports in July -- was the second largest destination in August, with 1.38 million mt (27%) of South African coal shipped to countries in the region, which include India and Pakistan.
Exports to East Asia retreated 3.87% compared with July, while exports to South Asia fell 50.1% month-on-month.
On the other hand, South African coal exports to Europe in August almost doubled month-on-month, climbing 92.02% to 982,739 mt in August and making up 19% of the total shipments.
Western Asia, including Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait among others, imported 11% or 575,728 mt of total RBCT exports, while exports to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore) totaled 143,260 mt, or 3% of the total volume.
East and West Africa imported 134,003 mt (2.6%), while South America imported 49,496 mt (1%) of South African coal.
January-August, RBCT exported 44.37 million mt of coal, comprising 16.17 million mt to South Asia (36%), 12.85 million mt to East Asia (29%), 6.99 million mt to Europe (16%), 5.18 million mt to western Asia (12%), 1.6 million mt to Africa (7%), 1.28 million mt to Southeast Asia (3%) and 303,997 mt to South America (1%).
TRANSNET COAL RAILINGS HIT ALL-TIME HIGH IN AUGUST
Meanwhile, South African state-controlled operator Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) railed an all-time high of 6.89 million mt of coal to the 91 million mt/year terminal in 866 trains during August, up 10% from July's railings and 10.1% on-year.
TFR has railed 46.71 million mt of coal to RBCT in January-August, according to RBCT statistics.
The combination of higher railings and lower exports caused end-of-month stocks at the terminal to jump 49.6% on-month to 4.65 million mt. The stocks were also 44.3% higher than a year earlier and at a 23-month high.
Trading sources told Platts at the end of last week that stocks had since dwindled in the first week of September to around 4.3 million mt.
Spot cargoes of standard 6,000 kcal/kg NAR South African thermal coal traded in a range of $70.90-74.50/mt FOB during August, with the Platts 7-45 day assessment ending the month at $71.50/mt FOB, a little above the year-to-date low and just 50 cents higher than at the start of the month.
Trading sources attributed low prices to pressure from climbing spot Capesize freight rates, as well as a weak rupee hindering Indian buying and cheaper domestic Chinese cargoes deterring import interest.