April coal exports out of the Richards Bay Coal Terminal fell 13% year on year and 21% on the month to 5.45 million mt, the 91 million mt/year South African facility said Tuesday.
RBCT shipments at the end of April stood at an annualized rate of 64.2 million mt, the lowest for the first four months of the year since 2011.
RBCT was hit by a power failure in February which halted operations for a few days and caused a build-up of vessels waiting to load cargoes, although operations have since returned to normal.
This month, the terminal is scheduled to close for around 10 days for annual maintenance.
According to RBCT's export destination breakdown, Southern Asia -- which includes India and Pakistan -- accounted for the majority of exports, with 3.17 million mt (or 58%) shipped to the region during the month, up 52% on March.
Western Europe was the second largest destination for South African coal, although shipments fell heavily to an eight-month low. The region accounted for 13% of total exports, taking 731,840 mt in April, down 56% on the month.
Shipments of South African coal to Eastern Asia -- which includes China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan -- fell to a year-to-date low of 528,320 mt (10%) in April, down 68% on the month.
April coal railings into RBCT by South African state-controlled operator Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) were made in 835 trains and totaled 6.6 million mt, up 11% year on year and the highest monthly total since August last year.
End-of-month stocks at the terminal rose 36% on the month to 4.16 million mt, up 15% on the year.
Spot FOB Richards Bay 6,000 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal prices have pushed up to over two-month highs recently. On May 2, Platts assessed the Richards Bay 7-45 day price at $77/mt FOB, up $3.55 from a month earlier.
