Thungela sees coal output jump as rail performance improves

Thungela Resources 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. The thermal coal exporter said in an update that local output would be 13.4Mt, above the target range of 11.5-12.5Mt.

Thugela Resources is seeing increases in local production. Source: Thugela Resources

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 four million tons, higher than the revised guidance range of 3.5-3.8Mt 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.

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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 12.5Mt this year, compared to 11.9Mt 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.