S.Africa's Thungela sees coal output jump as rail performance improves
10/12/2024 09:10
Dec 10 (Reuters) - Thungela Resources TGAJ.J said on
Tuesday it expects its coal production for the year to December
2024 to exceed targets, thanks to productivity efficiencies and
improved rail logistics in South Africa.
The South African thermal coal exporter said in an update
output in its home country would be 13.4 million tons, above the
target range of 11.5-12.5 million tons.
Production at the Ensham mine in Australia, acquired last
year as Thungela sought to diversify from South Africa's rail
logistics bottlenecks, is seen at 4 million tons, higher than
the revised guidance range of 3.5-3.8 million tons issued in
August.
Thungela said improved rail performance had enabled a
step-up in performance at its Khwezela and Zibulo mines, while
"better than anticipated progress made in traversing geological
features" helped lift output at Ensham.
South African mineral exporters resorted to throttling
output to match the state-owned Transnet's constrained capacity,
blamed on a lack of locomotives and spares as well as cable
theft and vandalism of its infrastructure.
The rail improvement is expected to lift exports to 12.5
million tons this year, compared to 11.9 million tons in 2023,
Thungela said.
Thungela said recent improvements in Transnet's operational
performance were due to additional locomotives put on the coal
line, availability of critical locomotive spares, as well as
line maintenance with enhancements to the signalling network.
(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Kim Coghill)
((Nelson.Banya@thomsonreuters.com;))